A 600-Page Textbook About Modern Monetary Theory Has Sold Out
The first MMT textbook titled “Macroeconomics’’ and aimed at college students, has sold out of its initial print run.
(Bloomberg) -- If book sales are any guide, then Modern Monetary Theory is gaining traction.
The first MMT textbook, a 600-page volume titled “Macroeconomics’’ and aimed at college students, has sold out of its initial print run, according to publisher Macmillan –- about two months after the launch party in London. Macmillan didn’t specify how many copies it printed. But it said more are on the way.
“I knew there was pent-up demand,’’ said Bill Mitchell, one of the book’s authors and an economist at the University of Newcastle, Australia, in an interview. His co-writers are Randall Wray, of Bard College in New York state, and Martin Watts, also of Newcastle.
Margins to Mainstream
MMT argues that governments in control of their own currencies, like the U.S. and Japan, aren’t constrained in the ways standard economics says they are. They may risk stoking inflation or running out of resources if they spend too much -- but they can’t go broke.
The doctrine was developed over about three decades by Mitchell, Wray and a handful of others –- and largely ignored for most of that time. But this year, it has burst into the mainstream.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played a big part in its breakout, when she invoked MMT as a way to help pay for a Green New Deal. The New York congresswoman has even popped up on social media holding a copy of the new book.
The goal is for universities and colleges to integrate the textbook into economic theory classes, said Philip Rees, a marketing manager at Macmillan.
“We took a bit of a risk, as a mainstream publisher,’’ he said in an interview in March. “The heterodox approach to economics, that’s maybe 10% of academics.’’ But, with contenders for next year’s U.S. presidential election promising radical new approaches, “the timing, we feel, is perfect.’’
‘Fallacious’ Theory
While Macmillan said it’s encouraged by early sales, the resistance MMT has encountered from inside economics shows that conquering the curriculum won’t be easy.
Larry Summers, who slammed the doctrine as a “fallacious’’ offer of free lunch, and Paul Krugman are among its heavyweight detractors. Many more have lined up to suggest it’s a recipe for runaway prices and public debt.
There have also been some more sympathetic assessments. And even economists who object to MMT -- Summers and Krugman among them -- agree that the U.S. has room to run budget deficits right now.
President Donald Trump is already doing so, without triggering inflation or flight from bond markets. Several of his potential opponents in 2020 have backed expensive plans such as Medicare for All and free college –- suggesting the climate is shifting in MMT’s favor.
Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the Democrat contenders, hired MMT economist Stephanie Kelton as an adviser on his 2016 campaign. Kelton has her own book coming out in the summer of 2020, titled: “The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and Creating an Economy for the People.’’
‘Suddenly Realized’
At Westminster College in Utah, John Watkins said he’s adding the new MMT textbook to his syllabus next semester. A professor who’s been teaching macroeconomics for three decades, he says the field could use more intellectual diversity.
“Most macro texts copy each other,’’ he said. “So many professors have been schooled in mainstream economics, so they likely will continue teaching ideas that have little or no relevance to the world.’’
Mitchell, the textbook’s co-author, said there’s growing interest outside of academia too. Investors and politicians are reaching out.
He’s been invited to the U.K. Labour Party’s annual conference, and “I’m now giving workshops to the financial community,’’ he said. “They’ve suddenly realized this is something they need to understand.’’
To contact the reporters on this story: Enda Curran in Hong Kong at ecurran8@bloomberg.net;Katia Dmitrieva in Washington at edmitrieva1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Ben Holland
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