STEPHANIE KELTON: ON HOW TO FIX DEMOCRACY

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is getting getting many economists to radically rethink the value of government debt. And the economist Stephanie Kelton is amongst the most articulate and persuasive members of the MMT community. Kelton sat down with me on my How To Fix Democracy show to talk about her new book, The Deficit Myth. Here’s a transcript of our conversation.

Andrew Keen: Today, we’re talking to Stephanie Kelton, who is the author of The Deficit Myth, the Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People’s Economy. Stephanie is not only a distinguished economist and an advisor to some very high-level democratic candidates, but she’s also a leading theorist of modern monetary theory (MMT). So, Stephanie, why don’t we kick-off by you defining what you mean by capitalism in the context of modern monetary theory?

Stephanie Kelton: Well, I think that my definition probably would not change before I heard of MMT or became someone who is involved with the scholarship and building that out. I think of capitalism as an economic system that is dependent upon the existence of private property, oriented around production for profit, and where you know it’s an inherently — if you like unequal gain in the sense that it requires capitalists and workers and capitalists are the people who hire the workers and you can’t have capitalism without you know this relationship where one…