MMT - The Myth

 I just finished "The Deficit Myth" by Stephanie Kelton. Stephanie maintains she's never met a deficit she didn't like.

Actually, she says budget deficits and national debt aren't a problem for currency issuing countries - countries that print their own money.

In a very real sense, she's saying money really does grow on trees. A country can just run up the tab as long as it doesn't cause "inflation".

Stephanie mentions inflation (leaf blight) very early on, but she only does so in passing. Towards the end of the book she discusses it in detail - she redefines it actually. I always thought inflation was what happened when the price of everything just keeps going up - not so according to Stephanie.

I can't really explain Stephanie's concept of inflation. Maybe it's just me. I tend to be very meat and potatoes about some things, especially when it comes to money.

Stephanie's entire book is about MMT - "Modern Monetary Theory". It's actually more like an infomercial for MMT than a book. She rarely stops selling it.

However, my real problem is that she talks about MMT as if it's a person capable of actually doing things as opposed to just her theory.

Stefanie is the poster child for reification fallacies. Lots of people are guilty of using reification fallacies, but Stephanie is the hands down, absolute winner when it comes to frequency and misuse of reification fallacies.

MMT can't do a damn thing; anymore than concepts like society, religion, capitalism, etc. can do something. You could say that based upon my understanding of and beliefs in MMT, I've decided to do something. You can't say MMT can do something independent of humans.

Stephanie does this endlessly. Remember "Mighty Mouse"? Remember what played when he went into action?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdIev12fCPs

When Stephanie uses the term MMT, that's what it's like - MMT is coming to save the day. The MM in MMT might as well be Mighty Mouse - Mighty Mouse Theory.

The sad thing about all this is that Stephane has some really good things in her book. She does a wonderful job explaining the difference between Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy. She is eloquent in Chapter 7, "The Deficits That Matter".

Stephanie seems like someone who genuinely, passionately cares about the well being of people and the planet. She should have been a social worker.

I really looked forward to reading this book. I had just finished "Doughnut Economics" by Kate Raworth and I was primed for new insights.

It's possible that I just failed to grasp what Stephane was saying - nah, I don't think so. The endless sales pitch is very real.

I was looking to learn something. I wasn't in the market for a new car.

Holy Moly!