Since Warren Mosler accidently created this MMT thing, what is considered to be a new school of economic thought (or perhaps it’s a subset of the post Keysenians school – I’m not sure), it has come to the attention of what I’ll call “real” economists, by which I mean people with PhDs who teach economics at Universities.
The list of people I identify in this series is by no means all inclusive. I’m stumbling across more economists who accept the implications of having a sovereign currency and floating exchange rates every month. As such, this list should grow over time.
L Randall Wray
L Randall Wray is a Professor of Economics at Bard College. He publishes in the areas of full employment policy and fiscal policy.
He is also a Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College (whatever that means).
Wray’s most recent book is titled Why Minsky Matters: An Introduction to the Work of a Maverick Economist.
I have not yet read that book, but I do have it on order, and it’s #2 in my “to be read” queue.
It appears this Minsky guy had ideas that strongly influenced the MMT crowd.
He is also the author what is considered the definitive text on MMT, a book titled Modern Money Theory: A Primer On Macroeconomics For Sovereign Monetary Systems.
Right now you’re probably think “Maverick economist? Is that a thing?”. Well apparently it is.
L Randall Wray doesn’t seem to have a twitter handle.
Stephanie Kelton
Stephanie Kelton is an American Economist and professor of Public Policy and Economics at Stony Brook University on Long Island.
I saw a reference somewhere (which I can’t find now) that either as an Economics graduate student or a newly minted Ph.D., she was exposed to the ideas being proposed by Warren Mosler as she worked closely with L Randall Wray when they were both teaching at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
At first she was skeptical because it looked weird. It had to be wrong.
So, the story goes, she set out to prove it was wrong, and in the process came to same model of how modern economies work that Mosler was proposing.
Stephanie Kelton is now sometimes referred to The Queen of MMT.
In December of 2014 she became the Chief Economist of the Democratic Minority Staff of the Senate Budget Committee, and she left that post in early 2016 to become an economic advisor to the Bernie Sanders campaign for President.
And yes, Bernie Sanders DOES appear to have failed to absorb some important aspects of what he could have learned from Professor Kelton.
Her twitter handle is @StephanieKelton.
Mariana Mazzucato
Maariana Mazzucato is a Professor of Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London (UCL), and the Founder and Director of UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.
Her work focuses on how wealth is created via a symbiotic relationship between Government, Universities, and Industry.
As such, she may not truly be a post-Keysenian economist, but may be a member of the “Institutionalist” crowd. I haven’t learned enough yet to make such a distinction.
Her arguments are very compelling. She points out how there are many instances of direct federal government spending that have created useful innovations and enormous wealth.
The smart phone is one such example.
The GPS network was not only developed by the US Federal Governemtn but is still to this day owned and operated by the US Navy.
The Internet started as a US Federal Government funded research project.
Touchscreens were also invented by the US Navy.
She is the author of the book The Entrepreneurial State and Mission Driven Economy. I have not yet read them, but I will.
Her twitter handle is @mazzucatoM.
