Covid-19 had caused drastic increases in government spending and government debt across the globe in an effort to stimulate aggregate demand the economies as a whole. Recently there is a growing interest in the new theory called the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). The theory explains that rising budget deficits are good economies as long as increased government spending does not lead to inflation. Furthermore, this theory promotes rising government debt as means of supporting government spending. As noted by Stephanie Kelton in her book “The Deficit Myth”, governments can fund this spending and servicing of debt through printing money. As such, all the spending could, in principle, be financed via the creation of cash rather than taxes. Taxes may serve other purposes such as providing public services. In relation to the above, use the multiplier model (or other models such as the IS-LM and AS-AD models) and critically analyse the effectiveness of MMT in South Africa. Furthermore, give your own policy recommendations of how the South African economy can grow post the COVID-19 pandemic.
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