Elgar Companion to Modern Money Theory

Edited by Yeva Nersisyan, Associate Professor of Economics at Franklin and Marshall College, Research Scholar, Levy Economics Institute and L. Randall Wray, Senior Scholar and Professor of Economics, Levy Economics Institute, Bard College, US

‘Mainstream economics treats capitalism as a barter system, and portrays the state and private sectors as always antagonistic. MMT shows that capitalism is inherently monetary, and that the state's creation of fiat money is essential to the proper functioning of the private sector. The book's chapters cover everything from the evolution of money from religious practices – not barter – to the proper management of the modern monetary system, which is something that mainstream economists have never understood.’

• ContentsIntroduction to Modern Money Theory 1Yeva Nersisyan and L. Randall WraySECTION I THE NATURE AND ORIGINS OF MONEY1 On the nature and origins of money 14Alla Semenova2 Civic and temple origins of Greek coinage 22Michael Hudson3 Modern Money Theory: sociology and economics 35Geoffrey Ingham4 Redemption 47Eric Tymoigne5 The paper money of colonial America 58Farley Grubb6 Monetary dissent and the erasure of state power in American history 70David M. P. Freund7 Modern Money Theory and international law working together 89John D. HaskellSECTION II MODERN MONEY THEORY FUNDAMENTALS8 Modern Money Theory and economic theory 99Eric Tymoigne9 Consolidation technique 116Eric Tymoigne10 Sector financial balances and Modern Monetary Theory 133Robert W. Parenteau11 Financial balances 151Gennaro Zezza12 Government debt in the modern money system 164Joelle Leclaire13 Unpacking the dynamics of fiscal deficits and debt 174Martin Watts14 Buffer stock approaches to inflation control 186William Mitchell15 The Job Guarantee: Modern Money Theory’s proposal for fullemployment and price stability 196Pavlina R. Tcherneva16 Why Hyman Minsky matters for Modern Money Theory 213L. Randall WraySECTION III RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS17 Resource constraints 228Sam Levey18 Resource constraints and economic policy 239Yeva Nersisyan19 Why Social Security can’t go “broke” 251Kerry Pechter20 The Modern Money Theory approach to provisioning for an aging population 264Yeva Nersisyan, Xinhua Liu and L. Randall WraySECTION IV MODERN MONEY THEORY AND THE EXTERNAL SECTOR21 The Modern Monetary Theory perspective on the external economy 275William Mitchell22 Modern Money Theory and exchange rates 293John Harvey23 Money, foreign exchange and the balance of payments 303Michael HudsonSECTION V MODERN MONEY THEORY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT24 Modern Monetary Theory as an analytical framework and a policy lens:an African perspective 314Ndongo Samba Sylla25 Harnessing sovereign money for development finance and solving thedebt conundrum: the case of China 329Yan Liang26 Job Guarantee as sustainable development policy: balancing China’seconomic development and ecological civilization 342Yijiang HuangSECTION VI MODERN MONEY THEORY AND ECONOMIC POLICY27 The politics of apolitical money: Paul Volcker and monetary policy in action 352David Stein28 Fiscal policy in the Eurozone 364Dirk Ehnts29 Sovereign currency and non-sovereign budgets: the Modern MoneyTheory approach to provincial, state, and local government budgets 378L. Randall Wray30 Is Overt Monetary Financing a viable option in the post-pandemic era? 386Martin Watts31 Electricity provisioning under the Green New Deal: a ModernMonetary Theory approach 399Avraham I. Baranes and Mitchell R. Green32 The regional Job Guarantee: fostering economic democracy andpromoting public participation 411Michael J. MurraySECTION VII RESPONSES TO CRITICS33 Modern Money Theory and the monetary system: a response to critics 420Eric Tymoigne34 Modern Money Theory policymaking praxis: a response to critics 433Eric Tymoigne35 Modern Money Theory policymaking praxis and financial andeconomic stability: a response to critics 447Eric TymoigneIndex 465