http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/bp\\... . It states clearly that: "While nobody would dispute that financial crises caused by excessive debt have inflicted large economic costs on many countries through time, these crises have generally not afflicted modern economies -- like the United States' -- that can borrow in their own currency and that have independent monetary and exchange rate policies. A review of the academic literature on sovereign debt defaults (Manasse and Roubini 2005) finds that it is exposure to currency risk that dominates the probability of debt default or financial crisis. This same review sets out a classification system to sort countries into those safe from debt crises versus those who are not safe -- and the simple ratio of public debt to GDP is not found to be a useful predictor variable for this." I'd like to echo Paul Andrew's call for a definitive "MMT for beginners" type paper or book. An ebook like Dean Baker's "The Conservative Nanny State" ( http://www.conservativenannystate.org/ ) would make a great tool for dissemination of MMT ideas IMHO. As a retired biochemist who has been attempting to learn concepts of macro-/micro-economics I found that LR Wray's book -- Understanding Modern Money very helpful, however, for the general public I would suggest a much more condensed and simplified (perhaps, a cartoon/comic type of book) would be helpful/required to get the attention of a wider public. Suggestions by Paul Andrews and JamesH (above) might be made up of a concise/simple description of B Mitchell's, LR Wray's, and/or