YouTube has the video L. Randall Wray – Modern Money Theory: Intellectual Origins and Policy Implications.

I am fascinated by this introduction to a topic that I have been learning for the last few years.

Despite my having read his book and having read many articles about MMT (Modern Money Theory), the first 15 minutes or so of this talk has clarified a number of issues for me. Until recently, I have rebelled against the MMT notion that taxes that must be paid in the currency of the country is what gives that currency its value. I always use China’s huge reserves of US dollars as an example of an entity that does not have to pay U.S. taxes anywhere near the extent of the dollars they have accumulated.

This is the first time I have heard the nuance that the payment of taxes is a sufficient reason for currency having a value, but it may not be necessary. He had already explained why a country like China would want to accumulate a huge stock of a currency beyond what it needs to pay taxes. (I suppose his explanation can be taken as an indication that George Soros’ bond investment strategy may also be a great driver of the dollar’s value.)

I don’t have time right now to listen to the 90 minutes left in this talk, but I anxiously look forward to when I will have time. This is one of my motivations for putting this on my blog. I won’t lose track of where to find the video to listen to the rest.

January 24, 2017

I have listened to the rest of the talk, and I was not disappointed. Wray answered so many of the questions about MMT that I still had. His discussions of the implications for policy were also very enlightening. Of course, you have to be able to take in what he is explaining and digest it. If you just cannot get the information to pass by the filters you have erroneously built up, then the talk will be useless to you. Come back at a later time when you are willing to listen.