One of those little problems with Modern Monetary Theory

Modern Monetary Theory - the magic money tree - is one of those ideas that contains within it the proof of its own problems:

Moreover, as these governments can repay their debts in their own currency, they always have the option to print money. This is a privilege not available to any household with their mortgage. This is a welcome departure from the austerity narrative preached by governments around the world in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis.

OK, that is MMT. Then we are told:

Most importantly, many poorer countries already face dangerous amounts of indebtedness, with 64 countries currently paying more on debt servicing than on healthcare. This is not the fault of the countries themselves, but the legacy of decades of neoliberal policies and the longer history of colonial inequality. As this debt is increasingly owed in foreign currencies, these countries do not have the privilege of printing money to repay their creditors.

Hmm, so, why are those countries not able to borrow in their own currencies? Why is it that people will only lend to them in monies that the borrowers don’t control the volume, issuance and thus value of?

The obvious reason being that lenders don’t trust them and their power over that issuance of money. To the point that they won’t lend to people who obviously do just print more money to pay off their debts.

That is, MMT only applies to people who, historically, haven’t used MMT. Which is something of a problem for the idea moving forward as when those who haven’t start to then the same will happen again.