Modern Monetary Theory
Every once in a while we hear that the U.S. government is going to run out of money and may be unable to pay its bills. Politicians, journalists, pundits and even economists keep telling us as much. Similarly, we are told that we cannot afford to repair our crumbling infrastructure, invest in education, research and development or provide for the elderly when they retire. The idea that the government is like a household, and must have revenue (or borrow) in order to spend has become the conventional wisdom. But can the US government really run out of money? And does it have to balance its budget, similar to a household, to avoid defaulting on its debt? Professor Nersisyan will help us explore these and other questions in her talk on Modern Money Theory. She will talk about what money is, where it comes from and what implications the alternative perspective on money developed by Modern Money theorists has for government finances and economic policy.