"We are all Keynesians Now"
So, if you haven't heard of MMT yet, you have to get out more. Your old professor has even heard of it, and he doesn't even own a TV set (it's like radio, but with moving pictures as well, am I right?). Professor Stephanie Kelton and her colleagues have created a body of economics literature that you need to be aware of in order to make sense of contemporary fiscal and monetary policy.
We Are All Modern Monetary Theorists Now
The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
Professor Stephanie Kelton's career includes not only academia but a stint as a policy advisor to federal policy makers. Her book is written for average voters to let them understand the foundations of monetary and fiscal policy. A very approachable book, if you never took economics, or forgot most of what you learned, Kelton will help you regain your bearings on a number of topics which are important to our future. Written and published before the pandemic and the unprecedented federal deficits it engendered, this book is timely.
Modern Money Theory by L. Randall Wray
L. Randall Wray has created a reader to allows us to understand the basics of this approach to economics. It is not necessary to read this book prior to digesting Kelton's book, but if you want to explore the underpinnings of Kelton's more popular work, her colleague Professor Wray has provided it. Post-Keynesian in its general outlook, a familiarity with Keynes' General Theory would be useful before tackling this work.
The Case for a Job Guarantee by Pavlina R. Tcherneva
This short work by Professor Tcherneva focuses on the major policy recommendation of Kelton's work - a Federal Job Guarantee. I am reading it in conjunction with The Deficit Myth so that I can understand this concept thoroughly and be able to write intelligently about it.
From "The Deficit Myth": "But money, as MMT notes, is the one resource the federal government can't run out of. There's no reason every job - all the way down to retail clerk or fast food worker or janitor in a luxury Chicago hotel - can't be a good job, with dignified pay, hours, security, and benefits."