Why Modern Monetary theory is against Working People

 The government is burning your taxes away. The film repeatedly shows images of fire on taxes to emphasize this point over and over again. This film that we got to see - Modern Monetary Theory presents - Finding the money was showcased at the Scotland economic festival held in Leith, Edinburgh from 19th to 21st of March 2026. The film features Stephenie Kelton, an Economist, who served as an advisor to Democratic party candidate Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign and worked for the Senate Budget Committee under his chairmanship. The Proponents of this theory suggest that a sovereign government does not need Money via taxes or debt to fulfil its obligations as it can print how much ever money it wants. So the government burns or removes money away once people pay it as taxes. The Government does not increase taxes for the Rich and wealthy to serve those in need but does so because it is the 'right thing to do'. The state can move money around like pieces on a Monopoly board as it deems fit and the state can manipulate working people’s lives as it sees fit.

MMT implies wages are token for rations that the state gives to working people to run their lives

The reason why this theory is a against everything the working people stand for is because, if taxes are just tokens that the government can burn away once it serves its purpose, it implies the wages that we receive in the same currency are tokens too. The state hands it over to hard working people for their work done but as mere rations or allocations to maintain their lives. This theory nullifies all the working class struggles through history for better working condition be it the 8 hour working day, Maternity and paternity rights or the gender pay gap struggles we are going through right now.

This theory disrespects socialist heroes like James Conelly who famously said a 'Fair days work for a fair days pay' or Rosie Hackett who helped organize 3,000 women at Jacob's biscuit Factory in 1911 to strike for better working conditions and pay for the working class. This theory undermines everything that the working class fought for and still struggle for everyday.
It kills the incentive and intention needed for the left to help those in need - our pensioners, women, children, the disabled and the poor. It pits the state as an omnipresent and autocratic entity against the working class on which it can force its will.

The United States and the United Kingdom can default on its debt

The core argument of the MMT theory is that as money the state can print as wanted, it would mean the state cannot default on its debt. This is not true.Roll over of debt (i.e. taking debt to fund its existing debt obligations) is one of the important ways a country pays off its obligations in any sovereign economy. If there is less or no subscriptions for these new debts, it will cause the country to default. That is why multilateral institutions like the IMF - International Monetary fund and the World bank exist to help governments unable to fund itself.

In 1976, The British government came close to defaulting on its debt, when the Labour government went through a post oil shock (1973 oil crisis) which caused a financial crisis. A plunging pound, high inflation, and a massive balance of payments deficit forced the Labour government under Prime Minister James Callaghan to negotiate a $3.9 billion loan at that time from the IMF to avoid default.

In 2022, Infamous Unfunded tax cuts from Conservative Prime minister Liz Truss's government led investors to sell off government bonds (due to loss of value of the government bonds). The Bank of England brought these government bonds to reduce supply in the market and in turn increase confidence in the government bonds to avoid a UK sovereign default.

In the United States in 2025 when President Trump announced the poorly formulated 'Liberation day' Tariffs and proposed the one big beautiful bill (causing excessive unfunded tax cuts), the US was close to defaulting on its debt as there was less to no subscription for the bonds the state issued. But Trump government backtracked right at the precipice to avoid this. We should note that US Finance secretary Scott Bessant stated to the press at that time that the United states will never default on its debt.

The Power to control money is in working peoples hands

We need to understand that money is nothing but your hard earned wages in the form of deposits. The so called institutional investors touted by some economists as undemocratic are just representatives of the same pension, insurance and bank deposits of working people. Law requires these institutional investors who manage these funds to work in our best interest which we call the 'fiduciary' duty. Yes, we need to increase in public spending. Yes, we need to serve our pensioners with national social care, Yes, we need to more money to fund those in need through benefits, All these policies will need higher government spending at a time when we face severe constraints on public finances. But that does not mean that we working people who do not know complex equations of the elite economists by gimmicks such as MMTs.