The Modern Money Network (“MMN”) aims to bring accurate and accessible knowledge of monetary and financial systems to the broader public.

Our symposia bring together students, scholars, professionals and members of the public to discuss, debate and refine ideas about money. Our work combines insights from a range of fields, including law, political economy, finance, history, sociology, anthropology, technology and systems theory.

Our first two seminars, The Historical Evolution of Money and Debt and Governments Are Not Households, are a good introduction to the economic concepts our network promotes.

Learn

 Symposia

Conversations & debates between experts from a range of disciplines.

Topic Directory

Monetary & financial concepts explained, with annotated reading lists & other media.

 Publications

Bibliography of works relevant to the Modern Money Network’s research interests.

Network

Mission & Values

Why we exist, and what we care about.

Upcoming Events

Calendar of chapter meetings & symposia.

 Organization

How the MMN is structured & governed.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Community

Donate

Help keep us going.

What is money?

How does money work?

We approach macroeconomic issues as legal realists, asking two critical questions: What is money? and How does money work? Our symposia and learning materials promote the insight that the US Government, along with other governments with fiat currencies and floating exchange rates, cannot “go broke.” That is, such governments face price stability constraints, but not solvency constraints per se. Thus there is no macroeconomic reason for current austerity measures.

Modern Money for Public Purpose

We are committed to the creation and improvement of monetary and financial institutions governed by the public and directed in support of public purpose. We believe in the universal, enforceable and inalienable right of every person to participate in economic life in a manner consistent with basic principles of justice, fairness, equality and dignity.

Who We Are

Student-run and student-conceived, the Modern Money Network welcomes all who are curious about how money works, and how our monetary and financial systems can be improved. Our network includes students, scholars, lawyers, artists, & technologists.


Symposium

People Must Live By Work: Direct Job Creation in America, from FDR to Reagan

A Book Discussion with Historian Steven Attewell
Oct 19, 2018

4:00pm, Friday October 19th, 2018

Room 18A, 18th Floor, 25 W 43rd St

CUNY’s School for Labor and Urban Studies, New York City

Discussants include Trudy Goldberg and Philip Harvey.

Event

The Second International Conference of Modern Monetary Theory

Fri, Sep 28 - 9:00am EDT

Full Conference information is available at mmtconference.org.

The New School, 66 West 12 St. New York , NY
United States
New York US
Symposium

Does Fintech Change Everything?

The Role of the State in the Future of Money
Jun 13, 2018

6:00pm, Wednesday, June 13th

Room H713, The New School

72 5th Ave (corner of 5th and 13th), New York City

This friendly roundtable debate explores the rise of cryptocurrency, blockchain, and related digital financial technologies, and their relationship to legal authority and state power.

Co-sponsored by the New School Public and Urban Policy Doctoral Student Association.

Symposium

Law and the Wealth of Nations: Finance, Prosperity, and Democracy

In Memory of Tamara Lothian
Jan 26, 2018

Tamara Lothian passed away in 2016, leaving behind two nearly finished books. The first of these works, Law and the Wealth of Nations: Finance, Prosperity, and Democracy, was published in 2017. On January 26, 2018, Duncan Kennedy, Mark Barenberg, Christine Desan, Robert Hockett, and Sanjay Reddy discussed Law and the Wealth of Nations, their friendship with Tamara, and what we can learn from her work. The panel was recorded and the video will be available soon.

Article

Support the Modern Money Network

Dear Friend,

Since the 2008 Financial Crisis, macroeconomic issues have taken center stage in world politics. Increasingly, to understand what is going on in the world around them, students, academics and citizens need to grapple with questions and concepts relating to monetary and financial system design. The traditional economics curriculum and orthodox analysis is not well equipped to impart even a basic understanding of such issues.

Symposium

Modern Money, Property Rights, and the Commons

Sep 24, 2017

This panel explores the relationship between modern money and the legal design of public and private ownership regimes regarding real estate, intellectual property, and the workplace/means of production.

Symposium

MMT in the Streets--Grassroots Organizing and Mass Mobilization

Sep 24, 2017

This panel explores strategies and tactics for the popularization of MMT ideas, as well as the broader challenges and possibilities of grassroots organizing and messaging around macroeconomic issues.

Symposium

Modern Money, Financial Regulation, and Corporate Power

Sep 23, 2017

This panel explores the relationship between the Modern Money perspective and policy perspectives on corporate power, especially the power of financial institutions. How does understanding money recontextualize our understanding of corporate power? What approaches to regulating corporate power become more or less viable from a Modern Money perspective?

Symposium

Modern Money, Payment Systems, and Digital Rights

Sep 23, 2017

This panel explores the legal and technological dimensions of contemporary payments systems, including the relationship between monetary law and federal budget policy, the role of safe assets in financial market design, and the implications of digital payments technology for macroeconomic regulation and the preservation of individual freedom.

Symposium

Towards a 21st Century Brain Trust – The Role of Lawyers in MMT

Sep 22, 2017

This panel explores the relationship between Modern Monetary Theory and legal theory, as well as the role of legal professionals in the MMT community, and lessons from prior law & economics movements for the development and operationalization of MMT ideas.

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