Critique of mainstream economics: UK cannot "run out" of sterling, argues MMT perspective
By
bill
Toasted golden, schmeared with insight. Top of the rack.
Summary
The article critiques mainstream economics, specifically targeting Harvard economists Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, whose 2010 paper on the "90% debt-to-GDP danger zone" has been widely cited despite flawed predictions. The author argues that Rogoff's recent prediction that the UK government will run out of sterling is similarly misleading. The piece uses Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) to challenge conventional economic wisdom, arguing that sovereign currency-issuing governments like the UK cannot "run out" of their own currency. The author accuses mainstream economists of using pseudoscientific claims to push political agendas that benefit elites at the expense of the public.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledCountries with debt over 90 percent of GDP enter a danger zone
The predictions failed to materialise as did all the previous predictions that economists like them had failed
Rogoff is back in town predicting that the British government will run out of sterling and be forced to bring in the IMF to address the fiscal crisis
Mainstream economics... regularly uses that pretence to bully governments into political shifts that help the elites and damage the rest of us
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