Nilay Patel — Bill Gates says tax policies like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's are 'missing the picture'

Gates also took exception to “modern monetary theory,” which is an economic theory with growing prominence on the policy teams of Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders, and others. MMT, as it’s known, suggests that governments need not worry about deficits because they can simply print their own currency, and should instead manage inflation with interest rates. (You can read more about it in this Vox explainer.) What does Gates think of MMT?

“That is some crazy talk,” he told me. “It will come back and bite you.”
(Interestingly, Gates did suggest that you could raise debt to 150 percent of the gross domestic product without a problem, which Vox’s Matt Yglesias tells me, puts Gates on the same side as MMT advocates for the foreseeable future even if they disagree about the long term.)...

He has made a lot of money (from intellectual property rights) so he must know what he is talking about, right? (Argument from false authority)

All of this was part of a wide-ranging conversation on The Vergecast about the philanthropic work Gates does around the world with his wife Melinda and their foundation — you can listen to the whole thing below or read the full transcript here. Below are Gates’ remarks about taxes and MMT....

The Verge
Bill Gates says tax policies like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's are 'missing the picture'

Nilay Patel

Oh wait. Bill Gates was misinformed about MMT.