Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to pay for her Green New Deal by essentially printing more money

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

published 7 February 2019

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is back with another head-turning economic theory.

The freshman congresswoman debuted her Green New Deal bill on Thursday, which aims to overhaul the U.S. economy and eliminate carbon emissions. Despite a slew of Democratic backers, NPR says the bill is unlikely to pass — especially with Ocasio-Cortez's current far-left proposal to pay for it all.

Ocasio-Cortez's proposed 70 percent income tax on the mega-wealthy ended up being more popular than politicians and billionaires thought. But in a Thursday NPR interview, Ocasio-Cortez also declared we also have to "break the mistaken idea that taxes pay for 100 percent of government expenditure." She argued for a "combination of" taxes and deficit spending, essentially saying it's worth increasing the deficit if an idea might "actually pay for itself" through job creation later on, and that lawmakers could regulate inflation with strategic taxes down the line.

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Essentially, Ocasio-Cortez is continuing to argue for Modern Monetary Theory — something she said "absolutely" needs to be "a larger part of our conversation" in a recent Business Insider interview. The theory says that because governments can literally print money, "they can spend as much as they like," Politico explains. "Inflation is the only obstacle" that should stop the presses, The Week details here. In short, it's a big, untested idea for a big, untested plan.

Read more two columnist's opinions on why the theory would and wouldn't work here at The Week.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.