Finding the Money

Unprecedented government spending to address the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a soaring level of what we call ‘the national debt’. But does the national debt matter?

Stephanie Kelton, economics professor and political advisor, claims the United States’ debt is no obstacle to paying for expensive new programs, to deal with everything from a pandemic and economic crisis, to inequality and the climate crisis. But the inevitable questions follow: “How can we pay for it?” “Where will the money come from”?

Kelton provocatively states, ‘finding the money’ is actually the easiest part, because Congress is the sole issuer of the US dollar.

FINDING THE MONEY captures the historic rise of a controversial new theory dubbed ‘Modern Monetary Theory’, or MMT. It could either represent a paradigm shift in economics and politics, or remain the laughing stock of a respectable academic field. The ideas, originating from Wall Street fund manager Warren Mosler, strike at the core of mainstream economics and are met with derision by prominent figures. But according to Mosler, “once you see it the right way around, you can never go back to the old thinking”.

A journey through 5,000 years of the history of ‘modern money’ explores whether money is a real thing or whether it has always been virtual.

Will an underdog group of economists make us rethink the very nature of money in time to understand what the US government can afford to do in the face of unparalleled crises?