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by CraigJPerry 1341 days ago
Is Sunak not an MMT-er ? I heard him waxing lyrical about reducing the deficit early this year on i think it was Nick Ferarri's LBC show. He was pushing all the buttons for monetarism aficionados.

If he is an MMT-er then we might dodge austerity but i can't see him standing up to the bond markets after what the UK has just been through so that will hold him back. Also if he is an MMT-er there's the need for higher taxation and no-one has figured out how that side of MMT should work fairly yet i don't think?
2 comments
samwillis 1341 days ago
For those like me unsure what MMT is: Modern Monetary Theory - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory
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touristtam 1341 days ago
I am sure it stands for Magic Money Tree :p
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yung_steezy 1341 days ago
No one can seriously defend MMT now after central bank monetary policies during the pandemic led to inflation everywhere.
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throw0101c 1341 days ago
> No one can seriously defend MMT now after central bank monetary policies during the pandemic led to inflation everywhere.

Central bank monetary policy did not lead to the current inflation, just like it did not lead to inflation in the post-GFC era. Unlike what some folks predicted back then:

> We believe the Federal Reserve's large-scale asset purchase plan (so-called "quantitative easing") should be reconsidered and discontinued. We do not believe such a plan is necessary or advisable under current circumstances. The planned asset purchases risk currency debasement and inflation, and we do not think they will achieve the Fed's objective of promoting employment.

* https://economics21.org/html/open-letter-ben-bernanke-287.ht...

At least per the SF Fed's research, about half of the current situation in the US is/was supply-side issues, and about a third is the demand side of things:

* https://www.frbsf.org/economic-research/publications/economi...

The demand side was mostly driven by fiscal stimulus.

The commodities chaos caused by recent geopolitical events kind of threw a wrench into most predictions.

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CraigJPerry 1341 days ago
I'm not an expert on this but i believe that is a statement not in opposition to MMT. Providing more money leads to inflation is something the MMT doctrine states and it claims the need for taxation to control this.

AIUI the contentious point of MMT is on crowding out private investment.

EDIT: for clarity

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