In my opinion, the focus should always be on how the productive forces are being utilized as opposed to the monetary system. Ultimately, the purpose of the economy is to ensure that labor and resources are allocated in a way that improves the lives of the people in the country. The reason MMT works in China is precisely because the government is directing the productive forces in a socially useful way. The reason it doesn’t work in the west is because productive forces are directed by financial oligarchs with the goal to increase their wealth, and any social good being strictly incidental.