1) The other 'missing giant' is credit. Credit is a couple of orders bigger than currency in circulation and it's really what makes the world go around. We prob

1) The other 'missing giant' is credit. Credit is a couple of orders bigger than currency in circulation and it's really what makes the world go around. We probably should start talking about credit when we talk about currency. 2) " especially as the world's governments find it increasingly difficult to avoid deficit spending" - this has always been the case. a) Raise taxes, b) Raise debt c) Print money. Option 'c' is generally not on the table. And so 'Governments' are 'constrained' by the realities of economics, which is kind of what we want them to be constrained by. It's worth noting the pretty scary nature of MMT proposals, which 'from a different perspective' amount to 'very loose monetary policy bordering on printing money to pay for stuff' and irrespective of the underlying theoretical ideals of MMT, the practical reality is that the money printing press is the 'Absolute Power' that can hardly not corrupt anyone with the power to use it, even under the cover of some intellectually grounded idea. All government fights are, at the end of the day, really about money, the rest is mostly a distraction. It's a giant war over budgets and spending, it always is. To give one party the magical power to do as they please without severe constraints is scary. It's even scary what we have today with the Fed (I think QE and artificially low rates to bail out home owners is really bad). I have much less faith in politicians. I believe for MMT to work, it has to have a framework around it even more rigid than the rules we apply to Central Banks because if there's a gap that can be exploited, it will be.