This article examines the misconceptions about modern money theory (MMT) put forward by . The author divides her critique into three categories. First, the Drumetz/Pfister article erroneously indicates that MMT focuses exclusively on the means-of-payment function of money, that it considers...

The origins of the reference values for budget deficits and public debt (3 and 60 per cent of GDP) in the euro area are explored. Both numbers came into the Maastricht Treaty by coincidence. Later attempts to legitimise them are traced and found unconvincing. In particular the debt cap is...

While the European Union (EU) fiscal rules are suspended in the years 2020–2022, new rules are in the making and might be activated in 2023. If the old rules were used again, massive austerity would be required in the face of the strongly elevated level of public debt and the gap to the 60 per...

This article considers the current economic situation from the lens of modern money theory (MMT) and expresses a policy response rooted in post-Keynesian theory and empirical data for the US and the euro area. First, MMT supports targeted deficit spending to promote production. Increasing...

We investigate the effect of fiscal institutions such as the strength of the finance minister in the budget process and deficits on interest spreads contained in bond yields of the countries now belonging to the Eurozone. Deficits significantly increase risk premia measured by relative swap...

The paper analyses some well-known explanations of the eurozone crisis and seeks to provide an answer to the question of whether expansionary fiscal policy is feasible within the restrictive confines of the existing structure of the eurozone. The paper addresses this question by focusing on a...

This paper draws on nearly 25 years of modern monetary theory (MMT) scholarship to provide an assessment of the critique of MMT by Drumetz/Pfister in their 2021 working paper. The present paper commences with a review of methodology. It then pursues a thematic approach, initially exploring the...

Modern monetary theory (MMT) has grown in popularity in recent years. Several central bankers have made passing comments about it. However, the publication of two papers by Drumetz/Pfister of the Banque de France in 2021 represents the first attempt at a more systematic assessment of MMT by two...

Macroeconomic Policies of the Economic and Monetary Union: Theoretical Underpinnings and Challenges Philip Arestis and Malcolm Sawyer, The Levy Economics Institute and Leeds University Abstract This paper presents two issues: first, an effort to decipher the type of economic analysis and...

This paper describes the Federal Reserve's analytical framework under Volcker and Greenspan, as it was constructed in the early 1980s, during a period of high inflation. It traces the modeling and policy implications of this framework. It discusses the Fed's actual track record and the state of...