Everybody loves to hate Modern Monetary Theory

In 1853 the French writer Gustave Flaubert wrote, “You can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies, and the importance of a work of art by the harm that is spoken of it.” By that standard, Modern Monetary Theory must be both worthy and important; it’s the economic school of thought that everybody loves to hate.

A new book by one of MMT’s leading proponents, Stony Brook University economist Stephanie Kelton, attempts to take back MMT from its critics and present it in simple language to a general audience. The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy is a work of persuasion, not formal scholarship.