The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
This is the first part of a two-part article.
Throughout the history of capitalism and its recurrent crises, various theories have been brought forward by “left” theorists who maintain that these crises and the social ills they generate can be ameliorated, if not entirely eliminated, by changing the monetary system without touching the foundations of capitalist production itself.
While presenting themselves as “leftist” and “progressive,” advocating reform of the capitalist system, history shows that in periods of great crisis they seek to divert the working class from the program of socialist revolution while at the same time providing the ideological foundations for political forces that advance a counterrevolutionary solution to the crisis.
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), the essential principles of which are outlined in this book by one of its foremost advocates, is the latest expression of this phenomenon.
The struggle against such tendencies goes back to the very origins of Marxist political economy.