Modern Monetary Theory - MMT

What is MMT and how could it completely change your perception of life in a nation with a sovereign fiat currency?

Looking for MMT resources in other languages? Try our INTERNATIONAL MMT RESOURCES page.

MMT - What is it anyway??
"I've heard it called the Magic Money Tree"
"If we just keep printing money, we'll devalue the dollar!"
"Printing money will cause inflation!"
"OhEmGee the National Debt!!"

We've all heard loads of rumors...now it's time to get the truth!

Use the arrows or swipe through the slides to learn more.
Modern Monetary Theory or MMT
MMT is just a description of how sovereign fiat, floating exchange rate currencies like the US dollar actually work. MMT helps us move past the outdated gold-standard thinking that hasn't been right for decades.

It's not something to implement someday, it is exactly how our money works TODAY!!
Sovereign currency issuers...
Many governments issue their own currency. The sovereign issuer of a nation’s currency is nothing like the users of its currency - such as households, businesses, or state and local governments.

The currency issuer is not constrained to balanced budgeting in the same way as a currency user.
Government Solvency
Sovereign governments can never run out of the currency they issue.

No matter what politicians or talking heads on TV say, when a country issues its own sovereign currency, it can never run out.

That would be like the scorekeeper in baseball running out of points! Crazy, right?
Taxes and Federal Spending
Federal taxes are not collected in order for the government to spend later. They are actually deleted out of existence!

As a matter of fact, in order for us to pay taxes in the first place, the government, the CURRENCY ISSUER, has to create (or spend into existence) the money. Then, we CURRENCY USERS have to find a way to get some money to pay our taxes.
The National Debt
It is not possible for a currency issuer to go broke.

Most governments, most of the time, will run fiscal deficits. This is not a matter of concern, and is indeed a good thing, as it means most private sectors will be able to run the financial surpluses they wish to add to their net savings.

The government’s deficit is our surplus – we should be glad all that money hasn’t been taxed out of the economy!
Where Do I Learn More?
Look through our collection of articles below to learn more! They are conveniently categorized and there are plenty of resources from MMT Beginner to Macroeconomics Expert level.
Previous
Next

Browse our MMT focused articles and filter them using the tabs at the top to find a specific topic.

Browse our MMT focused articles and filter them using the dropdown tab at the top to find a specific topic.

  • All Articles
  • Federal Reserve
  • Hyperinflation
  • Inflation
  • Job Guarantee
  • MMT 101
  • MMT Academics
  • MMT Rebuttal
  • National Debt
  • Social Security
  • Taxation
All Articles
  • All Articles
  • Federal Reserve
  • Hyperinflation
  • Inflation
  • Job Guarantee
  • MMT 101
  • MMT Academics
  • MMT Rebuttal
  • National Debt
  • Social Security
  • Taxation
Man at bank counter during bank run

SVB: It’s a Wonderful Lie

So, who is responsible for this fiasco? Or for the last one? Or the next?  Any reasonable person can see that the present system is untenable.

Read More →
measuring tape

Sound Money

The inflation hawks have a point: inflation is genuinely destabilizing. But where the inflation hawks go wrong is in blaming “money printing” for inflation.

Read More →

Shooting Down Deficit Hawks

Deficit hawks, like dive-bombing kamikazes, are out now again, circling the battleship of our collective efforts to save ourselves. What can we do?

Read More →

Rethinking Fiat Money

This may sound like the plot for a Dickensian novel but, in fact, it is a precise description of what I think of as rethinking the reality of modern fiat money—a rethinking that enables collective society to achieve the full potential of its profit-making and not-profit making endeavors.

Read More →

Resources NOT Dollars

Money has no power without labor, raw materials, ideas, and other resources.

Read More →

Republicans Against MMT Need To Take a Seat

A treatise, in answer to Katia Dmitrieva’s Bloomberg article on why the five Republicans against MMT need to take a seat, and why (AGAIN) we the People need to know how our economy really works.

Read More →
image of a piggy bank

Replacing the Budget Constraint with an Inflation Constraint

Let’s stop pretending that replacing a budget constraint with an inflation constraint is so hard.

Read More →

Redesigning Money for a Donut World

Government spending is nothing like a household. The government’s job is to keep the economy in balance.

Read More →
game piece on a monopoly board

Playing Monopolis Monopoly: An inquiry into why we are making ourselves so miserable

Why does it seem like there isn’t enough money to pay for the things we really need? Is it really true? Are we really too poor to put America back to work making and building the things we need to maintain a prosperous nation?

Read More →

Memes for Sharing

Why we need to debunk the 'deficit myth' - BBC REEL

Government spending is increasing at an unprecedented rate to deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Many people worry this could burden future generations.

However, economist Stephanie Kelton, author of The Deficit Myth, argues that we need to rethink our attitudes towards government spending.

Could Modern Monetary Theory help us navigate our way out of this crisis – and even help build a fairer economy?

Producer: Dan John
Animation: Jacqueline Nixon

(Republished with permission from the BBC)

Weaponizing knowledge, one mind at a time.

Visit our seven focused Knowledge Areas.

Modern Monetary Theory and Economic Justice

Economic Justice

Modern Monetary Theory and Environmental and Ecological Justice

Environmental & Ecological Justice

Modern Monetary Theory and Peace with Justice

Peace with Justice

Modern Monetary Theory and Equality with Justice

Equality with Justice

Modern Monetary Theory and Democracy

Democracy

Modern Monetary Theory - Health and Wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing

Technology & Innovation - Modern Monetary Theory

Technology and Innovation

Scroll to Top Skip to content