It’s good that most Americans aren’t familiar with Modern Monetary Theory. It’s a con, and a very compelling one at that. In essence, MMT says governments can literally print whatever money is necessary to pay bills, and therefore it’s okay to generate massive spending as long as the “investment” is a righteous one.
This is why massive proposals like Medicare-for-All and the Green New Deal are so popular to the far left. While most of the support can be attributed to a mildly educated population that doesn’t understand imposing massive taxes on the rich still wouldn’t be enough to pay for projects of this size, those who understand what would really happen behind the scenes are fully aware of the implications. They simply don’t care. In fact, MMT would accomplish two of their primary goals:
- Reducing the income gap by devaluing the dollar and forcing higher wages just to survive.
- Embracing a global economy in which the United States is no longer the center.
The end results would be a weakened America as a result of mixing socialism with globalism. And by “end” result, I mean it would literally be the end. What proponents of MMT fail to acknowledge is that the dollar, as the world reserve currency, must maintain its value to be able to fulfill its role. If we start devaluing it intentionally by pumping too much cash into the system, the rest of the world will bail out within weeks. Then, the national debt will lose it’s perceived support mechanism, forcing countries to demand collection before we devalue their investments artificially. In layman’s terms, the only thing protecting us from economic collapse under the weight of an inconceivable national debt would be immediately removed. We will be fiscally naked and will fall faster than the Soviet Union did when they collapsed.
The concept of MMT is in play right now. There is no way the government can pay for the recent coronavirus relief bill, but it was deemed necessary to prevent an immediate economic collapse. And it likely won’t be the last piece of massive legislation to battle the economic crisis the coronavirus panic has created.
Unfortunately, the outcome of this will be devastating. The costs accrued during the coronavirus crisis will be stretched out over time in the form of massively adding to the national debt. Leftists embrace this as a path forward towards their goals and many conservatives have accepted it as the only way to prevent immediate damage from being too great for the country to recover in time before the November elections. Republican lawmakers realize they’re creating a disaster, but they see solving the current crisis as too important to allow their economic sensibilities to hold them back.
Meanwhile, we will be treated to a constant barrage of statements and Tweets from radical progressives who may not use the phrase “Modern Monetary Theory” in public, but they know this is exactly what they need to use as their best weapon to push their economic monstrosity of a concept.
This is just another reason we need the American Conservative Movement to grow immediately. The rise of authoritarianism and horrid economic policies are accelerating as a result of the coronavirus panic. This is an opportunity for the Democrats, particularly the hyper-leftist wing, to enact policies that would never have seen the light of day if there was no crisis in play. We must start working towards stopping them immediately.
One of the darlings of Justice Democrats, Representative Ilhan Omar, hinted at the plan of attack through which they’ll promote Modern Monetary Theory very soon.
Friendly reminder:
Two Trillion ? bill just passed without anyone ever asking, “HOW ARE YOU GONNA PAY FOR IT?”
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 28, 2020
We are our own worst enemy in this fight because if we do recover from the economic turmoil of the coronavirus panic, the far left will say, “See, we told you MMT would work!” Fiscal conservatism must be rejuvenated when the coronavirus dust settles.
Image credit Otto Dettmer via The Economist.
