Funding the Future

The investment we need is in people

Keir Starmer is inviting the world to the UK to invest here, but he’s looking for the wrong type of investment. We don’t need his ‘big ticket’ schemes that will become white elephants as we head for a world where sustainability will matter most of all. What we really require is investment in the diverse skills that the people of this country have but which need development – and there’s no sign he’s going to deliver that.

Rachel Reeves has to get her numbers right

Most of the data being used when discussing the economy is hopelessly incorrect. We even have up to six figures for the national debt in the UK – and all of them are wrong. It really is time for Rachel Reeves to start publishing decent data so we can have a proper economic debate in the UK.

How late is too late?

The world might already be at a tipping point when it comes to climate change and yet our leaders still seem to be in denial about the reality that we have to face. So, how late is too late when it comes to making the changes required if human life is to survive on Earth?

Are the rich going to leave?

In the run up to the budget I have seen claims that as many as one in five people are planning to leave the UK because taxes are too high. If they are, they’re in for a shock. The well-off and the wealthy get a great tax deal in the UK that they’re going to find hard to replicate anywhere else.

Why are we getting sicker quicker?

New research shows that those in their later 60s now are sicker than those in their late 80s were at the same point in their lives. Why isn’t prosperity delivering wellness, and what can we do about it?

Venezuela, the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe prove MMT is true

It’s said that states that have suffered hyperinflation prove that modern monetary theory is not true. However, the exact opposite is the case. They demonstrate that the conditions that MMT says must exist for a well-managed economy to function are correct.

We need to tell our story

I’ve been accused of repeating myself on this YouTube channel. And that’s true. I have. But it’s only by honing our stories about what a decent, sustainable world looks like that we can persuade people that it’s possible to have one.

What is an envoy to the nations, Keir?

Keir Starmer has appointed Sue Gray as envoy to the nations and regions after her resignation as his chief of staff. What does that mean? And what is he thinking?

Government surpluses don’t create rainy day funds

The idea that government surpluses are good because they create piles of cash waiting to be spent in the event of a national emergency is absurd. All money paid in tax is cancelled on receipt by the government. So, all government surpluses actually do is reduce the amount of cash in the private sector economy.

What’s the real reason why we tax?

Most people assume that we tax to fund government spending, but we don’t in economies like that we have in the UK. Instead, we have an economy where the government spends by creating new money and tax then takes it out of circulation, and that creates a need for very different economic management from that we’re being offered.