What is Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)?
Session 5

2020-12-07 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Henry George School of Social Science
Phone:(212) 889-8020
Address: 149 East 38th Street, New York, NY 10016

WHAT IS MODERN MONETARY THEORY (MMT)?

MMT, what it is and how it works

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is a heterodox school of macroeconomic thought that asks:

* To what degree is your country monetarily sovereign?

* How does that impact the economic policies your country is able to pursue?

A monetarily sovereign nation is one which issues its own currency, does not peg the value of that currency to any other currency or to any precious metal, and whose government does not take on debt in any currency other than its own.

The United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom are all monetarily sovereign nations. Countries like France and Italy, which are part of the Eurozone are not. Neither are the countries in Africa which are former French colonies and which continue to use the CFA Franc.

It turns out that whether a country is monetarily sovereign or not has

tremendous importance in determining the economic policies a country can pursue in response to crises, whether those crises be economic, political, medical or ecological. Modern monetary theory explains, for example, why the U.S. federal government can create hundreds of billions of dollars to spend in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, while state and local governments (not to mention individual households) cannot.

In this five-session, students will get a taste of macroeconomics — the study of the overall determination of output, employment and prices — from the MMT perspective. Upon taking this course students will be able to understand and participate in current economic policy discussions.


Essential Reading

Stephanie Kelton

“The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy”

Public Affairs/Hachette Book Group. 2020.

Richard Murphy

“The Joy of Tax: How a fair tax system can create a better society”

Corgi Books/Transworld Publishers. 2015.

Yeva Nersisyan and L. Randall Wray

“How to Pay for the Green New Deal”

Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, Working Paper No. 931. 2019.

http://www.levyinstitute.org/pubs/wp_931.pdf

Pavlina R. Tcherneva

“The Case for a Job Guarantee”

Polity Press. 2020.

L. Randall Wray

“Modern Money Theory: A Primer on Macroeconomics for Sovereign Monetary Systems”

Palgrave Macmillan. 2015 (second edition).


Recommended Reading

Christine Desan

“Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism”

Oxford University Press. 2014.

David Graeber

“Debt: The First 5,000 Years”

Melville House. 2014.

John Maynard Keynes

“How to Pay for the War”

Macmillan. 1940.

William Mitchell, L. Randall Wray and Martin Watts

“Macroeconomics”

Red Globe Press/Macmillan International. 2019.

Warren Mosler

“The 7 Deadly Innocent Frauds of Economic Policy”

Valance Company. 2010.

Warren Mosler

“Soft Currency Economics II: What Everyone Thinks They Know About Monetary Policy Is Wrong”

Valance Company. 2012.

Fanny Pigeaud and Ndongo Samba Sylla

“L’Arme Invisible de la Françafrique: Une Histoire du Franc CFA”

La Decouverte. 2018. (In French)

Robert Skidelsky

“Money and Government: The Past and Future of Economics”

Yale University Press. 2018.

L. Randall Wray

“Understanding Modern Money: The Key to Full Employment and Price Stability”

Edward Elgar. 1998.


Instructor: James Keenan
Dates: Mondays | 11/9, 11/16, 11/23, 11/30, 12/7

Time: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM

5 sessions
A link to join the online course will be provided via email before the start of the first session.

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    From an Aristocratic to a Democratic Worldview: The Potential Transformation of Environmental Economics by Georgism

    The environmental perspective arose in Europe out of an aristocratic background, and it continues to be swayed by that history. From Thomas Malthus, economics inherited a very strong sense of the scarcity of nature. Since common lands in England were under the control of aristocrats, they considered it their mission to preserve nature for the enjoyment of future generations of aristocratic families. Almost every nature program on television promotes this worldview of pristine nature being damaged by the activities of common people and being preserved by the nobility. The story of Robin Hood emerged as a counter-narrative, but the economics profession turned it into a morality lesson that celebrates the sheriff of Nottingham.

    This 10-session course will examine how the aristocratic perspective persists as the shadow side of environmental economics in its treatment of common property, the valuation of natural goods, the treatment of people as costs or sources of destruction, an urban bias that denigrates rural life, an indifference to both equity and efficiency, and the critique of economic growth. The course will also analyze how Georgism can serve as the antidote by democratizing claims to nature. The course will further highlight the work of early thinkers like Aldo Leopold and their perception of nature as something of intrinsic value that transcends human ambitions.

    The instructor, Clifford Cobb is the thematic editor, American Journal of Economics and Sociology. He is best known as the developer of the Genuine Progress Indicator, published by the San Francisco organization, Redefining Progress.

    Dates: Mondays – 3/03, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/07, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, 5/19

    Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM ET

    Location: Online via Zoom

    Note: This is an online event. After registration, the Zoom link, along with the Meeting ID and Passcode, will be provided via email the day of each session.

    REGISTER NOW

  • 2025-05-12 6:30 pm - 2025-05-12 8:00 pm

    From an Aristocratic to a Democratic Worldview: The Potential Transformation of Environmental Economics by Georgism

    The environmental perspective arose in Europe out of an aristocratic background, and it continues to be swayed by that history. From Thomas Malthus, economics inherited a very strong sense of the scarcity of nature. Since common lands in England were under the control of aristocrats, they considered it their mission to preserve nature for the enjoyment of future generations of aristocratic families. Almost every nature program on television promotes this worldview of pristine nature being damaged by the activities of common people and being preserved by the nobility. The story of Robin Hood emerged as a counter-narrative, but the economics profession turned it into a morality lesson that celebrates the sheriff of Nottingham.

    This 10-session course will examine how the aristocratic perspective persists as the shadow side of environmental economics in its treatment of common property, the valuation of natural goods, the treatment of people as costs or sources of destruction, an urban bias that denigrates rural life, an indifference to both equity and efficiency, and the critique of economic growth. The course will also analyze how Georgism can serve as the antidote by democratizing claims to nature. The course will further highlight the work of early thinkers like Aldo Leopold and their perception of nature as something of intrinsic value that transcends human ambitions.

    The instructor, Clifford Cobb is the thematic editor, American Journal of Economics and Sociology. He is best known as the developer of the Genuine Progress Indicator, published by the San Francisco organization, Redefining Progress.

    Dates: Mondays – 3/03, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/07, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, 5/19

    Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM ET

    Location: Online via Zoom

    Note: This is an online event. After registration, the Zoom link, along with the Meeting ID and Passcode, will be provided via email the day of each session.

    REGISTER NOW

  • 2025-05-19 6:30 pm - 2025-05-19 8:00 pm

    From an Aristocratic to a Democratic Worldview: The Potential Transformation of Environmental Economics by Georgism

    The environmental perspective arose in Europe out of an aristocratic background, and it continues to be swayed by that history. From Thomas Malthus, economics inherited a very strong sense of the scarcity of nature. Since common lands in England were under the control of aristocrats, they considered it their mission to preserve nature for the enjoyment of future generations of aristocratic families. Almost every nature program on television promotes this worldview of pristine nature being damaged by the activities of common people and being preserved by the nobility. The story of Robin Hood emerged as a counter-narrative, but the economics profession turned it into a morality lesson that celebrates the sheriff of Nottingham.

    This 10-session course will examine how the aristocratic perspective persists as the shadow side of environmental economics in its treatment of common property, the valuation of natural goods, the treatment of people as costs or sources of destruction, an urban bias that denigrates rural life, an indifference to both equity and efficiency, and the critique of economic growth. The course will also analyze how Georgism can serve as the antidote by democratizing claims to nature. The course will further highlight the work of early thinkers like Aldo Leopold and their perception of nature as something of intrinsic value that transcends human ambitions.

    The instructor, Clifford Cobb is the thematic editor, American Journal of Economics and Sociology. He is best known as the developer of the Genuine Progress Indicator, published by the San Francisco organization, Redefining Progress.

    Dates: Mondays – 3/03, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31, 4/07, 4/14, 4/28, 5/12, 5/19

    Time: 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM ET

    Location: Online via Zoom

    Note: This is an online event. After registration, the Zoom link, along with the Meeting ID and Passcode, will be provided via email the day of each session.

    REGISTER NOW