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Karl W. Smith

No, This Isn’t Modern Monetary Theory’s Moment

The current state of the economy shows the consequences of unchecked government spending.

Sign of a good economy? — Sign of a good economy?
Photographer: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP

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February 8, 2022, 1:30 PM UTC

Americans are not happy with the economy, and inflation is their No. 1 concern. It’s odd, then, that proponents of Modern Monetary Theory — a school of economics that advocates the kind of policy that has brought the U.S. economy to this point — are claiming this moment as vindication.

To the contrary, the current state of the economy shows that MMT, as it’s known, is less a theory than a disposition. And to the extent it is a theory, it is proving every bit as impractical as its critics charge.