money
We do not need Fiscal Rules to rool ok?
I agree with Wayne Godley – almost 19 years ago. And in 2024 so does NEF about the European ones: When we know that money is a man made commodity that governments create in order to get stuff done, it is desperately sad that we have allowed finance and their bankers – both commercial and... Read more
Stephanie Kelton on the economy
This YouTube video by the Belgian economist, Joeri Schasfoort, which was conducted in February 2024 at the Warwick Economic Summit held at Warwick University, is really excellent. It forms part of of a series of discussions labelled Money & Macro Talks. He correctly calls the episode with Stephanie Kelton an in-depth discussion. The interview technique... Read more
Share buybacks
Or what in the US is called ‘stock’ buybacks are, as Professor Robert Reich suggests below in this clip of just over two minutes, intimately involved in why Chief Executives are paid so much, and workers, so little: Indeed the evidence would seem to be that buybacks started first in the UK and the idea... Read more
The Neoliberal West is doomed – by its bankers
This is a good thread from Stephanie Kelton of Modern Money fame where she indicates how China understands money and uses it appropriately on the state’s behalf. Drawing on an old Bloomberg article, she says: “[O]ld-fashioned financial thinking [says] that the government should aim to balance its budget, but in reality China is already transitioning... Read more
The ‘cost’ of chaos…
…is certainly not financial… This Labour created campaigning website is deeply unimpressive. Using it would make campaigning for Labour more difficult. Labour are following the Thatcher lie that government has no money – it’s all taxpayers money.Well if it’s taxpayers’ money why on earth has the government got it? The 2008 financial crisis and Covid... Read more
Where is growth – never mind productivity?
This seems to be Labour’s mantra. Yet in fact, for us on the planet, growth is likely to be a death sentence. So that bodes ill unless and until you consider that economic activity comes from innovation that actually uses less resources – but is that ‘growth’? I’m genuinely unsure but I do find it... Read more
Owen Jones speaks to Gary Stevenson
This should have been a interesting interview but whilst I admire Gary Stevenson’s efforts to get the economy better understood, his idea that bond holders want to be sure of being paid back and so implying there is a chance that UK Gilt holders might not be is just entirely fictitious. Owen Jones is no... Read more
Labour is no student of the modern monetary theory
The title is from an article in ‘Left Foot Forward’ by Prem Sikka who is an Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, and also a Labour member of the House of Lords. This article is rather impressive (do read it verbatim) – such that I’m afraid that... Read more
Monetary Sovereignty and Mark Blyth’s critique of MMT
Professor Mark Blyth’s critique of MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) is, even in one and a half minutes, in my view, basically correct: Below, I have paraphrased and expanded the suggested objections a little so as to apply to the UK, rather than just Scotland.. He suggests that Britain has a substantial capacity as a sovereign... Read more
Is the UK’s ‘debt’ ‘sustainable’?
My very simple and straightforward submission to the House of Lords’ enquiry into the sustainability of UK debt is now within their website. My effort (downloadable from the above link) is written below – I tried to give the submission a final twist: WRITTEN EVIDENCE SND0013 – SUSTAINABILITY OF THE UK’S NATIONAL DEBT INQUIRY 1.What... Read more