Checks and balances apply

Still, imagine for a moment that governments embrace MMT. Imagine too, as MMT proponents suggest, that control of the printing press is taken away from unelected central bankers and given to “accountable” elected fiscal representatives. Would we be any better off?

There is a hard bound between the power to coin, the power to tax, and the sanctity of government debt.  And whatever residual power in coinage, Treasury needs banks to monetize transactions so taxes can be collected. These are checks and balances.

My claim is that the MMT power is there, and always has been used, and is limited by contract with the banks, Senate and House. On net, thus, the aim is to prove we are slightly better at using MMT power today than in the past. That is a low bar, that is a Half Nixon, a pain but not apocalyptic. MMT and Nixon Shock are equivalent terms.