Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imk/wpaper/109-2013.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Money, fiscal policy, and interest rates: A critique of Modern Monetary Theory

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas I. Palley
Abstract
This paper excavates the set of ideas known as modern monetary theory (MMT). The principal conclusion is that the macroeconomics of MMT is a restatement of elementary well-understood Keynesian macroeconomics. There is nothing new in MMT's construction of monetary macroeconomics that warrants the distinct nomenclature of MMT. Moreover, MMT over-simplifies the challenges of attaining non-inflationary full employment by ignoring the dilemmas posed by Phillips curve analysis; the dilemmas associated with maintaining real and financial sector stability; and the dilemmas confronting open economies. Its policy recommendations also rest on over-simplistic analysis that takes little account of political economy difficulties, and its interest rate policy recommendation would likely generate instability. At this time of high unemployment, when too many policymakers are being drawn toward mistaken fiscal austerity, MMT's polemic on behalf of expansionary fiscal policy is useful. However, that does not justify turning a blind eye to MMT's oversimplifications of macroeconomic theory and policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas I. Palley, 2013. "Money, fiscal policy, and interest rates: A critique of Modern Monetary Theory," IMK Working Paper 109-2013, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:imk:wpaper:109-2013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_imk_wp_109_2013.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Louis-Philippe Rochon & Matias Vernengo & Louis-Philippe Rochon & Matias Vernengo, 2003. "State money and the real world: or chartalism and its discontents," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 57-67.
    2. William Poole, 1969. "Optimal choice of monetary policy instruments in a simple stochastic macro model," Special Studies Papers 2, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    3. Alan T. Peacock & Jack Wiseman, 1961. "The Growth of Public Expenditure in the United Kingdom," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number peac61-1.
    4. L. Randall Wray, 2024. "Modern Money Theory," Springer Books, Springer, edition 3, number 978-3-031-47884-0, July.
    5. Knapp, Georg Friedrich, 1924. "The State Theory of Money," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number knapp1924.
    6. Malcolm Sawyer, 2003. "Employer of Last Resort: Could It Deliver Full Employment and Price Stability?," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(4), pages 881-907, December.
    7. Tobin, James, 1982. "Money and Finance in the Macroeconomic Process," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 171-204, May.
    8. William D. Nordhaus, 1975. "The Political Business Cycle," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 42(2), pages 169-190.
    9. Mathew Forstater & Warren Mosler, 2005. "The Natural Rate of Interest Is Zero," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 535-542, June.
    10. L. Wray, 2007. "A Post Keynesian view of central bank independence, policy targets, and the rules versus discretion debate," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 119-141.
    11. Cripps, Francis T & Godley, Wynne A H, 1978. "Control of Imports as a Means to Full Employment and the Expansion of World Trade: The UK's Case: Comment," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 2(3), pages 327-334, September.
    12. L. Randall Wray, 1998. "Understanding Modern Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1668.
    13. William Poole, 1970. "Optimal Choice of Monetary Policy Instruments in a Simple Stochastic Macro Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(2), pages 197-216.
    14. Blinder, Alan S. & Solow, Robert M., 1973. "Does fiscal policy matter?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 319-337.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brett Fiebiger, 2016. "Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy and the Mechanics of Modern Clearing and Settlement Systems," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 590-608, October.
    2. Kehrwald, Bernie, 2014. "The Interest Rate in a Monetary Economy," MPRA Paper 102388, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 12 Aug 2020.
    3. Thomas Palley, 2019. "Macroeconomics vs Modern Money Theory: Some unpleasant Keynesian arithmetic," Working Papers PKWP1910, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    4. Abel M. Agoba, 2021. "Minimising the inflationary impact of fiscal deficits in Africa: The role of monetary, financial and political institutions," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(1), pages 724-740, January.
    5. Malte Dold & Tim Krieger, 2023. "The ideological use and abuse of Freiburg’s ordoliberalism," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 195(3), pages 341-361, June.
    6. Guglielmo Forges Davanzati, 2020. "The Italian Economic Decline and the Proposal of the State as Innovator of First Resort," Working Papers 0049, ASTRIL - Associazione Studi e Ricerche Interdisciplinari sul Lavoro.
    7. Cavalieri, Duccio, 2015. "Structural interdependence in monetary economics: theoretical assessment and policy implications," MPRA Paper 65528, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Phillip Anthony O’Hara, 2021. "Objectives of the Review of Evolutionary Political Economy’s ‘Manifesto’ and editorial proposals on world problems, complex systems, historico-institutional and corruption issues," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 359-387, July.
    9. Truong Hong Trinh, 2022. "Towards Money Market in General Equilibrium Framework," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, February.
    10. Eckhard Hein, 2018. "Autonomous government expenditure growth, deficits, debt, and distribution in a neo-Kaleckian growth model," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 316-338, April.
    11. Marc Audi & Amjad Ali, 2023. "Public Policy and Economic Misery Nexus: A Comparative Analysis of Developed and Developing World," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(3), pages 56-73, May.
    12. Nwaogwugwu, Chii & Evans, Olaniyi, 2019. "What are the Short-run and Long-run Drivers of Human Capital Development in Nigeria?," MPRA Paper 97130, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Cecilia Maigua & Gekara Mouni, 2016. "Influence of Interest Rates Determinants on the Performance of Commercial Banks in Kenya," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(2), pages 121-133, April.
    14. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    15. Biagio Bossone, 2020. "Why MMT can’t work: A Keynesian Perspective," Working Papers PKWP2020, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    16. Eric Tymoigne & L. Randall Wray, 2013. "Modern Money Theory 101: A Reply to Critics," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_778, Levy Economics Institute.
    17. Patrick Newman, 2020. "Modern Monetary Theory: An Austrian Interpretation of Recrudescent Keynesianism," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 48(1), pages 23-31, March.
    18. Cavalieri, Duccio, 2014. "Towards an integrated theory of value, capital and money," MPRA Paper 58198, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Biagio Bossone, 2021. "Why MMT can’t work," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 157-181, February.
    20. Jackson Mejia & Brian C. Albrecht, 2022. "On price stability with a job guarantee," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(4), pages 568-584, October.
    21. Cavalieri, Duccio, 2015. "On stock-flow consistent approaches and the like: the ‘rediscovery’ of model building," MPRA Paper 67050, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Oct 2015.
    22. C. Sardoni, 2016. "A note on the sustainability of full employment in the presence of budget deficits," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 79-89, January.
    23. Pedro Leao, 2015. "Is a Very High Public Debt a Problem?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_843, Levy Economics Institute.
    24. Arslan Razmi, 2023. "MMT and policy assignment in an open economy context: Simplicity is useful, oversimplification not so much," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 328-350, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas I. Palley, 2015. "The Critics of Modern Money Theory (MMT) are Right," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1), pages 45-61, January.
    2. Reynold F. Nesiba, 2013. "Do Institutionalists and post-Keynesians share a common approach to Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)?," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 10(1), pages 44-60.
    3. Josh Ryan-Collins, 2015. "Is Monetary Financing Inflationary? A Case Study of the Canadian Economy, 1935-75," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_848, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. Thomas Palley, 2018. "The Evolution of money debate: functionalism versus chartalism, Schumpeterian dynamics, Gresham's fallacy, and how history constrains public finance," FMM Working Paper 34-2018, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    5. Thomas I. Palley, 2019. "What's Wrong With Modern Money Theory (MMT): A Critical Primer," FMM Working Paper 44-2019, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    6. Robert S. Kravchuk, 2020. "Post‐Keynesian Public Budgeting & Finance: Assessing Contributions From Modern Monetary Theory," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 95-123, September.
    7. Pavlina R. Tcherneva, 2008. "The Return of Fiscal Policy: Can the New Developments in the New Economic Consensus Be Reconciled with the Post-Keynesian View?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_539, Levy Economics Institute.
    8. Phil Armstrong, 2020. "Can Heterodox Economics Make a Difference?," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 19964.
    9. Klausinger, Hansjörg, 2000. "Walras' law and the IS-LM model. A tale of progress and regress," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 69, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    10. Francesco Saraceno & Roberto Tamborini, 2015. "How can it work? On the impact of quantitative easing in the Eurozone," DEM Working Papers 2015/03, Department of Economics and Management.
    11. Carl E. Walsh, 1982. "The effects of alternative operating procedures on economic and financial relationships," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 133-180.
    12. Francesco Saraceno & Roberto Tamborini, 2015. "How can it work? On the impact of quantitative easing in the Eurozone," DEM Working Papers 2015/03, Department of Economics and Management.
    13. Edward Nelson, 2004. "Money and the Transmission Mechanism in the Optimizing IS-LM Specification," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 36(5), pages 271-304, Supplemen.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4ei7u710bj9par121c71ul9fdr is not listed on IDEAS
    15. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4ei7u710bj9par121c71ul9fdr is not listed on IDEAS
    16. L. Randall Wray, 2020. "Sovereign Currency and Non‐Sovereign Budgets: The Modern Money Theory Approach," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 26-48, September.
    17. Summa, Ricardo de Figueiredo, 2022. "Alternative uses of functional finance: Lerner, MMT and the Sraffiansh," IPE Working Papers 175/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    18. Eric Tymoigne & L. Randall Wray, 2013. "Modern Money Theory 101: A Reply to Critics," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_778, Levy Economics Institute.
    19. Giuliano Toshiro Yajima, 2021. "The Employer of Last Resort Scheme and the Energy Transition: A Stock-Flow Consistent Analysis," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_995, Levy Economics Institute.
    20. D. Masciandaro, 2019. "What Bird Is That? Central Banking And Monetary Policy In The Last Forty Years," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 19127, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    21. Shvets, Serhii, 2021. "How excessive endogenous money supply can contribute to global financial crises," MPRA Paper 110191, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Jul 2021.
    22. Fadhel Kaboub, 2011. "Understanding and preventing financial instability; Post-Keynesian Institutionalism and government employer of last resort," Chapters, in: Charles J. Whalen (ed.), Financial Instability and Economic Security after the Great Recession, chapter 4, pages 77-92, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    modern monetary theory; money financed budget deficits; fiscal policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E00 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - General
    • E02 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Institutions and the Macroeconomy
    • E10 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - General
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:imk:wpaper:109-2013. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sabine Nemitz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imkhbde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.