“Modern Monetary Theory” has been talked about so much lately. Why exactly is it so "modern"? Here are some recent stories relating to "MMT - Modern Monetary Theory"

Heather Boushey: The left should resist the siren song of 'modern monetary theory’

04/19/2019 12:25 PM - Over the past year, a new economic concept has moved to the center of the political debate, as economists, pundits and policymakers hold it up as the answer to our economic problems. Modern monetary theory, or MMT, supposedly explains how “We Can Pay for a Green New …

Guy Sorman : Regrettably, Leftist Democrats Are Embracing Modern Monetary Theory

04/12/2019 02:04 PM - Leftist Democrats are charmed by magical thinking. Medicare for all, full employment, and a complete overhaul of American infrastructure can all be achieved simply by printing more money, according to a new generation of Democrats. Their spokesperson is …

Caroline Baum: Modern Monetary Theory flunks the smell test

04/11/2019 08:53 AM - The challenges to unrestrained federal spending: economic, legal, political and practical. Perhaps you’ve heard or read something recently about Modern Monetary Theory. You’d have to be living on the Space Station not to have come in contact with the “theory,” as it …

Peter Ireland: Modern Monetary Theory: That ’70s Show All Over Again?

04/08/2019 02:03 PM - During the stagflation of the 1970s, as U.S. interest rates and inflation were reaching unprecedented heights, a “rational expectations revolution” occurred in macroeconomics. As its name suggests, one of the most important insights to emerge from rational …

Patricia Cohen: Modern Monetary Theory Finds an Embrace in an Unexpected Place, Wall Street

04/05/2019 10:10 AM - The package of eccentric ideas known as modern monetary theory — for example, that annual deficits are too small, and that the United States can essentially print money to pay off its debt — has been on the receiving end of a remarkable level of vitriol.In policy …

Robert Shiller: Modern Monetary Theory Makes Sense, Up to a Point

03/19/2029 02:48 PM - The term “modern monetary theory” has been talked about so much lately that we mainstream economists need to try to understand it. We’re having trouble, though I’m beginning to suspect that it may be because M.M.T., as it’s often called, is really just a voguish name for …

Ferdinando Giugliano: The Case Against Both Paul Krugman and Modern Monetary Theory MMT

03/22/2019 05:00 AM - It’s an unfashionable view, but austerity is still sometimes the only way to deal with a national debt crisis. A timely new book shows how to do it. Austerity isn’t exactly the flavor du jour in international macroeconomics. The debate over a government’s …

James Galbraith: Modern Monetary Realism

03/15/2019 12:35 PM - AUSTIN – Kenneth Rogoff's criticism of Modern Monetary Theory assumes that MMT advocates don't care about budget deficits or the independence of the US Federal Reserve. But these assumptions are wide of the mark, and Rogoff himself sometimes undermines his own arguments. …

Stephen Mihm: American Colonists Had a Modern Monetary Theory of Their Own

03/15/2019 10:00 AM - In the 1600s, Massachusetts solved a dire liquidity problem by issuing the first fiat currency in the Western world. Hell hath no fury like an economist provoked by Modern Monetary Theory. Paul Krugman, Ken Rogoff, Larry Summers, and many others have attacked MMT, …

Jim Bianco: The Fed Has Given MMT Proponents Ample Ammunition

03/11/2019 01:00 PM - The idea that the government can print money to spark the economy is not that much different than quantitative easing – with one big exception. Modern Monetary Theory is a poorly conceived idea that might get its day in the sun. Thank – or blame - the Federal Reserve …

Tom Orlik: Voodoo Economics or Keynes Redux? How Lawrence Summers and MMT Align

03/11/2019 07:00 AM - In its prescriptions, modern monetary theory recalls the economic orthodoxy that lasted from World War II through the 1970s. It’s an intense period for modern monetary theory. After decades in obscurity it finds itself under the flashlight of public attention. …

Brian Domitrovic: Modern Monetary Theory Got Trounced Years Ago

03/11/2019 01:19 AM - Over the last several months, Modern Monetary Theory—MMT—has become the progressive left's latest policy darling, notwithstanding withering criticism from the center (Larry Summers) and the right (from figures too numerous to count). The basic idea of MMT is that …

Brian Chappatta: How to Trade MMT Is Wall Street’s Great Unknown

03/08/2019 06:00 AM - The biggest names in finance all have an opinion on the polarizing theory, but not a plan. There’s no avoiding it: If you work on Wall Street, you should probably have an opinion on modern monetary theory. Just this week alone, BlackRock Inc. Chief Executive Officer …

Lawrence Summers: The left’s embrace of modern monetary theory is a recipe for disaster

03/04/2019 08:07 PM - We’ve seen this movie before. There is widespread frustration with the performance of the economy. Traditional policy approaches are not delivering hoped-for results. A relatively unpopular president is loathed to an unusual extent by a frustrated opposition party that …

Stephanie Kelton: The Clock Runs Down on Mainstream Keynesianism

03/04/2019 03:55 PM - Paul Krugman’s macro framework is leading him astray. A couple of weeks ago, Paul Krugman decided to write about modern monetary theory. He didn’t cite the scholarly literature written by any of the academic MMT economists (books, book chapters, published articles or …

Kenneth Rogoff: Modern Monetary Nonsense

03/04/2019 01:12 PM - CAMBRIDGE – A number of leading progressive US politicians advocate using the Federal Reserve's balance sheet to fund expansive new government programs. Although their arguments have a grain of truth, they also rest on some fundamental misconceptions, and could …

Noah Smith: Deficit Hubris Looks Like the Next Economics Mistake

03/04/2019 07:30 AM - Those who now say debtdoesn’t matter are repeating the errors of those who said the Great Recession couldn’t happen. The 2008 financial crisis and the deep recession that followed taught the world to be more skeptical of macroeconomic theories. In the years leading up …

Terry Jones: Modern Monetary T heory: Everyone's Talking About MMT, But What Is It, And Will It Work?

03/01/2019 12:49 PM - Maybe you've never heard of Modern Monetary Theory. But no doubt, as the 2020 election nears, you will. It's the latest contentious buzzword to hit Washington, D.C. The idea, despite its name, is not new or "modern." But it has set off a heated political and …

Stephanie Kelton: Paul Krugman Asked Me About Modern Monetary Theory. Here Are 4 Answers.

03/01/2019 09:30 AM - Deficit levels, interest rates and the tradeoff between fiscal and monetary policy. There is a doctrine among mainstream economists holding that: (1) government deficits push interest rates higher and (2) rising interest rates crowd out private investment. The …

Paul Krugman: Running on MMT (Wonkish)

02/25/2019 03:59 PM - With everything else going on, I really don’t want to spend time arguing with the Modern Monetary Theory people; after all, we agree on basic policy issues right now, and they are never likely to have as much destructive influence as the deficit scolds. But the MMT …

Brian Riedl: Should We Fear Budget Deficits? Absolutely

02/25/2019 01:10 PM - In Foreign Affairs, economists Jason Furman and Lawrence Summers take on "deficit fundamentalists" and assert that "it's time for Washington to put away its debt obsession." To which even casual observers may respond, "what debt obsession?" In the past two years, …

Caroline Baum: Does debt matter? It doesn’t until ... it does

02/22/2019 08:42 AM - It has become fashionable in recent months for economists to argue that the nation’s growing public debt is not a problem but something to be, if not exactly embraced, then at least not avoided. Harvard University economists Lawrence Summers and Jason Furman penned …

Nathan Lewis: The Problem With "Modern Monetary Theory" Is That It's True

02/21/2019 04:51 PM - "Modern Monetary Theory" basically posits that a government can pay its bills by printing money. What exactly is so "modern" about this I don't know. In the third century, the Roman government started paying its bills by making coins with higher and higher denominations. …

Stephanie Kelton: Modern Monetary Theory Is Not a Recipe for Doom

02/21/2019 08:00 AM - There are no inherent tradeoffs between fiscal and monetary policy. Paul Krugman first wrote about modern monetary theory on March 25, 2011. He last wrote about MMT in a two-part series on February 12-13, 2019. Although he’s had almost a decade to come to terms with …

Bill Dudley: Budget Deficits Still Matter, Sorry MMT Proponents

02/19/2019 05:00 AM - The U.S. government has the capacity to take on more debt, but it’s not unlimited. People from across the political spectrum are challenging a bit of long-held conventional wisdom: that if the U.S. government runs big, sustained budget deficits, its mounting debts …