Should governments obsess about debt? Yes, say traditionalists. No, says the theory

Governments across the world have dramatically increased their spending in an effort to prevent economic collapse. So how will they pay for it all?

The traditional economic answer to that question is that governments should run large budget deficits, issue new debt today and service that debt over time as the economy rebounds.

That conventional view has come under attack by the proponents of so-called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), whose most visible advocate is former Bernie Sanders adviser Stephanie Kelton.