I made this comment on this great article by a proponent of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).

Great article! I agree. Except I think a tight moneyist would put the onus not on the creation of debt, but the nearly simultaneous crreation of money. What gives govt the right to print money in the first place, they might argue? I would say the government has a role to create the infrastructure for commerce, employment, the division of labor, and wealth. A most essential part of that infrastructure is money, and it must expand as the economy expands, mainly toward the production of full employment. Inflation results from improper investment, another story. Of course tight-moneyism is long-term self-defeating protectionism for the rentier class. The concern and direction of the government should be for the good of all. Thus money should be printed to meet an employment target. But I'd say best have the government create useful jobs in education and infrastructure broadly defined, and spend the money on salaries. Now economies have been expanding (or collapsing) for a long time, now we have the global economy, is it immune from collapse? And further, can growth continue forever? My guess is probably not, we will need possible a different kind of economy in a resource collapsing world. Fortunately, we are not in full collapse just yet. Meanwhile, the ruling class seems intent on creating a phony collapse, or actually one following another, stealing the silverware while they still can is the way I see it. Right now, we need to expand government money/debt enormously and build the renewable energy economy. If we don't (and it's hard to imagine we will) we will be toast before long. The path to Zimbabwe is failing to build the infrastructure we will need in the future, and sticking with the destructive carbon fossil system instead. Capitalist energy provision like we have now doesn't work, it steals from the future. That's the story of the past 250 years in a nutshell. Public energy systems are superior, and that is true in many other sectors including heathcare (should be fully nationalized, not merely single-payed). Capitalism's failure to deliver the goods to most has been diguised by "growth" based on depleting and corrupting the environment. In the no-growth environment of the future, the choices are slavery or universal equity. We must choose the latter, or the former will be imposed on us.