Finding the Money (2023)

"A masterpiece! By far the most inspiring economics film I have ever seen. This film is a gift to humanity. Everyone should watch it." - Prof. Jason Hickel

An intrepid group of economists is on a mission to flip our understanding of the national debt upside down.

FINDING THE MONEY follows economist Stephanie Kelton on a journey through Modern Money Theory or “MMT”. Kelton provocatively asserts the National Debt Clock that ticks ominously upwards in New York City is not actually a debt for us taxpayers at all, nor a burden for our grandchildren to pay back. Instead, Kelton describes the national debt as simply a historical record of the number of dollars created by the US federal government currently being held in pockets, as assets, by the rest of us.

MMT bursts into the media with journalists asking, “Have we been thinking about how the government spends money, all wrong?” But top economists from across the political spectrum condemn the theory as “voodoo economics”, “crazy” and “a crackpot theory”.

FINDING THE MONEY traces the conflict all the way back to the story we tell about money, injecting new hope and empowering countries around the world to tackle the biggest challenges of the 21st century: from climate change to inequality.

How to get involved:

• The MMT Project
• Modern Money Network: to promote public understanding of money and finance through education, discussion, and scholarship
• Public Money Action: Promoting social justice through public money
• MMT Ed: Free learning materials on MMT, courtesy of Professor Bill Mitchell
• Public Money Action (coming soon)
• @thepublicmoney and MMN YouTube Channel.
• Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies
• Sunrise Movement
• 350.org
• Real Progressives
• Extinction Rebellion
• Beyond Extreme Energy

Networks:

• Rethinking Economics is an international network of students, academics, professionals and citizens building a better economics in society and the classroom. On FaceBook @rethinkecon
• Doughnut Economics Action Lab  is a global community of people exploring the ideas of Doughnut Economics and pioneering ways to put the ideas into practice. This includes educators, policy makers, community members, business people, artists, academics, designers, facilitators, oh, and the occasional economist.
• Ecological Economics For All Transforming economies to foster genuine and inclusive well-being within planetary boundaries through ecologically sustainable and equitable societies
• Wellbeing Economy Alliance: (WEAll)  What is the Economy? Simply put, it’s the way that we produce and provide for one another. We often think of the economy as something given, fixed and unchangeable – but it’s not. The rules, social norms and stories that underpin our current system were designed by people, and that means they can also be changed by people. A Wellbeing Economy is an economy designed to serve people and planet, not the other way around. In a Wellbeing Economy, the rules, norms and incentives are set up to deliver quality of life and flourishing for all people, in harmony with our environment, by default.