Jun 9, 2026 · 0 min · 14 segments
Bob sits down with economist Emmanuel Maggiori to discuss his new book If You Can Just Print Money, Why Do I Pay Taxes?, a carefully researched, point-by-point critique of Modern Monetary Theory that…
Emmanuel MaggioriGuest
Bob MurphyHost
So, um, I wanted to actually, you know, acknowledge MMT and, uh, you know.
Yeah, so just a few things and then we'll start going through this stuff, Emmanuel.
I, I've talked enough about it here on the Human Action Podcast, but just in case people missed it, the...
It, it's not the case that, oh, every interventionist economist likes MMT 'cause they just...
But like, for example, Paul Krugman had a public clash with Stephanie Kelton, and he walked away from that.
And, and like, you know, Krugman was arguing st- like from a neoclassical, you know, new Keynesian framework-
... making just standard points about, "Okay, well yeah, the central bank can just buy bonds and, quote, 'control interest rates,' but then that means inflation's a free variable." And, and K- and Kelton just kept responding, like, on one particular thing w- and then ignoring, like, what she had said, you know.
I don't know if that reference makes sense to you, but for Mary, that, that's, uh, you know, for Calvin and Hobbes.
So, um, I wanted to actually, you know, acknowledge MMT and, uh, you know.
Yeah, so just a few things and then we'll start going through this stuff, Emmanuel.
I, I've talked enough about it here on the Human Action Podcast, but just in case people missed it, the...
It, it's not the case that, oh, every interventionist economist likes MMT 'cause they just...
But like, for example, Paul Krugman had a public clash with Stephanie Kelton, and he walked away from that.
And, and like, you know, Krugman was arguing st- like from a neoclassical, you know, new Keynesian framework-
... making just standard points about, "Okay, well yeah, the central bank can just buy bonds and, quote, 'control interest rates,' but then that means inflation's a free variable." And, and K- and Kelton just kept responding, like, on one particular thing w- and then ignoring, like, what she had said, you know.
I don't know if that reference makes sense to you, but for Mary, that, that's, uh, you know, for Calvin and Hobbes.
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