Funding the Future

Richard Murphy and occasional friends talking about everything you need to know to understand the economy, tax, finance and how we fund our future.

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Episodes

You are not disposable

Friday Feb 13, 2026

Friday Feb 13, 2026

Modern economics behaves as if some people simply do not matter. In this video, I reject that idea outright.
Neoliberal economic policy treats people as costs, blames them for failures they did not create, and deliberately excludes those who do not contribute to its narrow definition of “productivity”. Disabled people, carers, the long-term sick, the elderly, migrants, and those in insecure work are all made disposable by design.
I explain why this is not an economic law but a political choice, how institutions like central banks enforce it, and why the result is an economy that fails by choice.
I also set out the alternative: a politics for people and a political economy of care, built on inclusion, dignity, and justice.
No one is disposable. You matter. And your job is to reject any politician whose actions suggest otherwise. 

Is the UK a united nation?

Thursday Feb 12, 2026

Thursday Feb 12, 2026

The UK is no longer a unitary political system. Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England now operate as distinct political realities, yet Westminster still governs as if nothing has changed.
This video argues that Labour’s current crisis is not tactical or personal, but constitutional. The collapse of national political consent, the distortions of first-past-the-post, and the absence of a governing theory have created a dangerous vacuum.
I explain why no single party can now govern the UK legitimately, why democratic credibility is failing, and why authoritarian politics thrives in that space. The solution is not domination or denial, but structured cooperation: national government in the national interest.
That means electoral reform, abolition of the House of Lords, a regional senate, recognition of the voluntary nature of the Union, and governing by consent rather than force.
Without this, democracy in the UK will continue to fragment, and that is a risk we cannot ignore.

Wednesday Feb 11, 2026

Why does Britain feel poorer, more unequal and less productive than it should be?
In this Funding the Future podcast, I speak with John Christensen, co-founder of the Tax Justice Network, about the finance curse, which occurs when banking and financial services grow beyond any socially useful scale.
Drawing on John’s work in Jersey and decades of UK experience, we explain how finance crowds out real economic activity, drives up housing costs, drains talent, captures politics and ultimately undermines democracy. We also discuss new research showing the staggering cost of this failure to every household in Britain, and what can be done to reverse it.

Is Starmer a hollow man?

Tuesday Feb 10, 2026

Tuesday Feb 10, 2026


Keir Starmer is being urged to explain what he believes in to save his leadership. That misunderstands the problem. This video argues that Starmer’s failure is not one of communication, but of conviction, and that his total lack of belief reveals a deeper crisis in British politics, Labour, and democracy itself.

Monday Feb 09, 2026

New reporting shows the US State Department planning to fund MAGA-aligned think tanks, charities, and political movements in Europe. That includes organisations and figures linked to UK politics.
This video follows the money: from post-war neoliberal networks, to modern think tanks, to today’s use of US state funding to legitimise extremist ideology. The far right no longer opposes the state. It has captured parts of it and is now using that power in the USA to attack democracies, including our own here in the UK.
This is as organised, deliberate, and dangerous as if China and Russia were doing it - so why aren't the media saying so? 

Can the Greens deliver?

Sunday Feb 08, 2026

Sunday Feb 08, 2026

Mass membership growth means something real is happening in the Green Party in England and Wales. People - who I call the watermelons, as they're red inside and green outside - are choosing commitment to that party over despair. But, critically, movements can outrun institutions.
In this video, I set out the opportunity facing the Greens, the risks they must avoid, and the hard truth that values alone are not enough. If plausible, deliverable, policy does not follow, and fast, the consequences will be severe.

Saturday Feb 07, 2026

Bitcoin has halved in value since October, and this is not a routine market correction. It is a crash.
In this video, I explain why crypto has no underlying value, why the collapse still has further to go, and why banks that lent money so people could speculate on Bitcoin are now exposed.
I also look at the growing fragility in stock markets and tech valuations, including AI, and explain why this could become a systemic crisis that makes 2008 look mild by comparison.
Trump promised that crypto and markets would make his supporters rich. If those bubbles burst, the political consequences could be just as severe as the financial ones.
This is not speculation. The evidence is now visible in the markets.

Keir Starmer is finished

Friday Feb 06, 2026

Friday Feb 06, 2026

Keir Starmer’s authority collapsed in the House of Commons this week, and it will not recover. This video explains why his judgment failed, why sacking aides will not save him, and why Labour is now a hollowed-out party with no credible future leadership.
But this crisis goes much further than Starmer. It exposes systemic failure in Labour, growing paralysis in government, and deeper institutional rot that threatens the Union and the monarchy itself.
This is not a scandal. It is an executive collapse in slow motion.

Why you need a pay rise

Thursday Feb 05, 2026

Thursday Feb 05, 2026

If people do not have spending power, businesses will not invest, innovate, or hire. It really is that simple.
This video breaks down the real sequencing of growth and explains why politicians have got everything wrong. Pay rises aren't the reward for growth; they are the precondition for it, because people without money to spend cannot ever drive the growth politicians crave. 

What if Trump stops the vote?

Wednesday Feb 04, 2026

Wednesday Feb 04, 2026

What if a US president simply refuses to allow an election to take place?
This video is not a conspiracy theory. It is a risk analysis based on polling data, Trump’s own record, and the legal powers he has already claimed. I examine what could happen if the 2026 US midterms are cancelled or ignored, how states might respond, the risk of constitutional rupture, and why this matters not just for America, but for the UK and Europe as well. Democracy only survives if it is defended.
 

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