MMT had nothing to do with QE, because no new MMT money was created in QE. The QE money was swapped for bonds and mortgage securities that already existed. The interest that would have been paid on the bonds was replaced by interest paid on bank reserves. No one got any new money to spend. The only economic effect was a lowering of interest rates that enabled more people to qualify for bank credit. That’s not nothing — indeed, it was modestly stimulative — but it wasn’t New Deal stimulative.

As Dr. Bernanke tried repeatedly to tell Congress, only the fiscal authorities can directly increase private spending power by increasing public debt. That’s what the GOP did with its tax cuts. MMT explains why the ballooning GOP deficit isn’t causing inflation. MMT justifies those tax cuts.

The economy has grown, and unemployment fallen, steadily from 2008. How this pattern can be attributed to Mr. Trump’s administration isn’t clear to me.