This is a readable book about the US deficit and how to think about it. MMT suggests the deft is not a boogie man, as long as the government can print money and inflation stays under control. I’ve heard prominent economists suggest MMT should not be taken seriously but the arguments seem silly (we’d become like Greece or Venezuela) or extremely technical (and hard to follow). There are big ideas in this book that are understandable to almost anyone and I’d like critics to address those ideas, also in ways accessible to the non experts like me. If the ideas in the book are on track then the central thesis, that the way to think about debt, taxes, borrowing etc. is first to imagine the kind of society you want — for example one in which caring for people is valued, ensuring adequate health care and education, addressing climate change, making sure anyone who wants a job has one — and then allocate the resources necessary to achieve it. No serious person could think market based capitalism would ever get us there. Any solution must involve government leadership, a lot of it. Our current politicians are not up to the task — both in terms of their understanding and their honesty and integrity. It’s past time to vote the current lot out and elect decent, smart people.

Most important book I’ve read in my lifetime.