COVID‐19 has triggered the most severe economic crisis since the 1930s. The resulting policy shift is diametric to what mainstream macroeconomists have been advocating for decades. We argue that their framework underestimates the fiscal space available to governments and cannot provide an understanding of the consequences of these policy extremes. We introduce modern monetary theory (MMT), which disabuses us of the claims that deficits and debt are to be avoided. MMT defines fiscal space in functional terms, in relation to available real resources that can be brought back into productive use, rather than focusing on irrelevant questions of government insolvency.

中文翻译：

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债务与赤字-现代货币理论的视角

自1930年代以来，COVID-19引发了最严重的经济危机。随之而来的政策转变与数十年来主流宏观经济学家所提倡的态度截然相反。我们认为，它们的框架低估了政府可利用的财政空间，无法理解这些极端政策的后果。我们介绍了现代货币理论（MMT），该理论使我们无法避免应避免出现赤字和债务的主张。MMT从功能角度定义了可以重新投入生产使用的可用实际资源的财政空间，而不是着眼于与政府破产无关的问题。