The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies
Published online 24th October 2020
Full Document
Introduction
The purpose of this white paper is to outline the fundamentals of MMT and its application to the United Kingdom
What is MMT?
MMT began largely as a description of Central Bank monetary operations, which are best thought of as debits and credits to accounts as kept by banks, businesses, and individuals.
Warren Mosler independently originated what has been popularised as MMT in 1992. And while subsequent research has revealed writings of authors who had similar thoughts on some of MMT’s monetary understandings and insights, including Abba Lerner, George Knapp, Mitchell Innes, Adam Smith, Wynne Godley, and former NY Fed chief Beardsley Ruml, MMT is unique in its analysis of monetary economies, and therefore best considered as its own school of thought.