Tom O’Brien conducted an excellent interview with Mathew Forstater in November 2012 on the topic of Marx and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). The first half of the interview focuses on Marx, particularly in relation to primitive accumulation and fiat currency as one mechanism used to drive the process. There is a clear connection with MMT on this point. There is also a connection, as Forstater explains, in conceptualizing value of the currency in terms of socially necessary labor time. (Further discussion on this latter connection can be found in a couple of previous posts, here and here.)

The second half of the interview covers basic MMT while drawing out how operational relics left over from the gold standard era are contributing to the public misconception of government as a household. Snippets of a recording of Michael Hudson speaking on this deception are worked nicely into the program.

For a scholarly paper on primitive accumulation in relation to fiat money and taxation, see:

Forstater, M., 2005, ‘Taxation and Primitive Accumulation: the Case of Colonial Africa’, Research in Political Economy, Volume 22, 51–65. Free link here.