Printer's Ink
₽$¥F€â‚¹ (2024)
Costa Rican and Hungarian paper, Hongkongese plastic and acrylic on canvas
122 x 91
Modern Monetary Theory believes governments can print money with impunity as they are solely responsible for the issuing of currency. The Austrian School of Economic thought would call this inflation, insisting that inflating the money supply is the singular cause of ‘price inflation’ and the core and sole definition of the word. MMT’s dominance is the cause of all current economic woes. Inflation surreptitiously steals the savings of all. Major instances of “quantitative easing” or money printing occurred after the financial crash of 2008 and during the COVID-19 outbreak. But it has been present throughout history and has led to the collapse of empires. The colour cyan of the Costa Rican 2000 colón note, magenta of the Hong Kong ten-dollar note and the yellow of the Hungarian 5000 forint note, drip the standard printing colours that represent the relentless printing of new money.