Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and Current US Monetary Policy
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 21/05/2021

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and Current US Monetary Policy was recorded on the 12th of May 2021 with speakers Costas Lapavitsas (SOAS) and Nicolás Águila (Centro Interdisciplinario para el Estudio de Políticas Públicas, CIEPP).

This presentation compares and contrasts Modern Monetary Theory and Marxist monetary theory focusing on the relationship of money to commodities, the role of state power in monetary processes, and the significance of global hierarchy for world money. Money is a social relation, as MMT claims, but for Marxist theory capitalist money is specifically a relation of class, both domestically and internationally. The room for state policy is correspondingly constrained, not least because the international monetary system is hierarchical.

These issues are placed in a contemporary context by analyzing the current bout of monetary expansion in the USA and its impact on the rate of interest, the money supply, and debt. Constraints are identified on US government policy.

This lecture is part of the SOAS Economics Summer Lecture Series.