[Living High and Letting Die: Our Illusion of Innocence by Peter Unger (Oxford University Press, 1996; xii + 187pp.)]

It has been well said by others that so-called “Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)”—similar to the Holy Roman Empire—is not modern, not monetary, and not a theory.

Glimpses into the offices of modern financial institutions reveal dizzyingly-intricate algorithmic and computationally-driven investment strategies. Machine learning techniques and the methods of applied physics confound the layman and foster a reputation of unapproachable complexity around the realm of quantitative finance.

At a recent graduation ceremony at one of Latin America’s oldest and most prestigious law schools, young lawyers applauded a vision of authority in which law no longer operates as a limit on power, but as its instrument. This was not a trivial academic ritual or a moment of youthful enthusiasm, it was a revealing social signal. When those trained to defend due process celebrate its suspension, the problem is no longer merely legal, it is civilizational.

When President Donald Trump recently told the New York Times that he is restrained only by “my own morality” instead of by international law or treaties, people rightfully were shocked. People who feared the Trump presidency might turn authoritarian hoped (maybe against hope) that the existing constraints that came with the office of president might “moderate” his views, but so far it has been a false hope.