Professor Willi Semmler

Professor Semmler is questioned about his specialisms, the key issues relating to them and the importance of history and the role of mathematics in his work. The perceptions of Professor Semmler on the nature of money are sought, followed by his view of applicability of the credit and state theories of money, the endogenous approach to money and the determination of interest rates. Professor Semmler is asked whether the global financial crisis (GFC) provided significant evidence to contradict the expectations of New Consensus Macroeconomics (NCM) and the extent to which the mainstream has maintained its hegemonic status, post crisis. Professor Semmler is then questioned on heterodox economics, whether is it feasible that heterodox economics, in any form, might mount a challenge to the mainstream paradigm in the foreseeable future and to assess the extent to which the different heterodox schools are characterised by commonality and complementarity rather than being adversarial. In addition, Professor Semmler is asked about his view of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). Professor Semmler is asked to consider the potential for cooperative work within heterodox economics, the value of pluralism and the extent to which heterodox economists work within a community as opposed to within their own schools and, probing further, the feasibility of a heterodox paradigm.