IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1049 
Recognizing the duty of the House of Representatives to condemn Modern 
Monetary Theory and recognizing that the implementation of Modern 
Monetary Theory would lead to higher deficits and higher inflation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 16, 2020 
Mr. KEVIN HERN of Oklahoma (for himself, Mr. BUDD, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. 
FLORES, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. BISHOP of North Carolina, Mr. 
COLLINS of Georgia, and Mr. MEUSER) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the duty of the House of Representatives to 
condemn Modern Monetary Theory and recognizing that 
the implementation of Modern Monetary Theory would 
lead to higher deficits and higher inflation. 
Whereas noted economists from across the political spectrum 
have warned that the implementation of Modern Mone-
tary Theory (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘MMT’’) 
would pose a clear danger to the economy of the United 
States; 
Whereas, on March 4, 2019, former Secretary of the Treas-
ury Lawrence H. Summers said that— 
(1) MMT is fallacious at multiple levels; 
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•HRES 1049 IH 
(2) past a certain point, MMT leads to hyper-
inflation; and 
(3) a policy of relying on a central bank to finance 
government deficits, as advocated by MMT theorists, 
would likely result in a collapsing exchange rate; 
Whereas, on February 26, 2019, Jerome Powell, Chair of the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, said: 
‘‘The idea that deficits don’t matter for countries that 
can borrow in their own currency I think is just wrong’’; 
Whereas, on March 25, 2019, Janet Yellen, former Chair of 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
disagreed with those individuals promoting MMT who 
suggest that ‘‘you don’t have to worry about interest-rate 
payments because the central bank can buy the debt’’, 
stating: ‘‘That’s a very wrong-minded theory because 
that’s how you get hyper-inflation’’; 
Whereas the March 2019 report entitled ‘‘How Reliable is 
Modern Monetary Theory as a Guide to Policy?’’ by Scott 
Sumner and Patrick Horan of the Mercatus Center at 
George Mason University found that— 
(1) MMT— 
(A) has a flawed model of inflation, which over-
estimates the importance of economic slack; 
(B) overestimates the revenue that can be 
earned from the creation of money; 
(C) overestimates the potency of fiscal policy, 
while underestimating the effectiveness of monetary 
policy; 
(D) overestimates the ability of fiscal authori-
ties to control inflation; and 
(E) contains too few safeguards against the 
risks of excessive public debt; and 
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•HRES 1049 IH 
(2) an MMT agenda of having fiscal authorities 
manage monetary policy would run the risk of— 
(A) very high debts; 
(B) very high inflation; or 
(C) very high debts and very high inflation, 
each of which may be very harmful to the broader 
economy; 
Whereas the January 2019 report entitled ‘‘Modern Mone-
tary Theory and Policy’’ by Stan Veuger of the American 
Enterprise Institute warned that ‘‘hyperinflation becomes 
a real risk’’ when a government attempts to pay for mas-
sive spending by printing money; and 
Whereas the September 2018 report entitled ‘‘On Empty 
Purses and MMT Rhetoric’’ by George Selgin of the Cato 
Institute warned that— 
(1) when it comes to the ability of Congress to rely 
on the Treasury to cover expenditures, Congress is, in 1 
crucial respect, more constrained than an ordinary house-
hold or business is when that household or business relies 
on a bank to cover expenditures because, if Congress is 
to avoid running out of money, Congress cannot write 
checks in amounts exceeding the balances in the general 
account of the Treasury; and 
(2) MMT theorists succeed in turning otherwise 
banal truths about the workings of contemporary mone-
tary systems into novel policy pronouncements that, al-
though tantalizing, are false: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) realizes that deficits are unsustainable, irre-
sponsible, and dangerous; and 
(2) recognizes— 
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(A) that the implementation of Modern 
Monetary Theory would lead to higher deficits 
and higher inflation; and 
(B) the duty of the House of Representa-
tives to condemn Modern Monetary Theory. 
Æ 
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