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.

Episodes

Nov 11, 2025

13 min

We’re told that the 1970s proved Keynesian economics failed, that inflation and unemployment could rise together, and only neoliberalism could fix it. But the truth is very different. External shocks, not excessive spending, drove that crisis. Governments panicked, misunderstood money, and abandoned Keynes when they needed him most.
In this video, I unpack what really caused stagflation — and why repeating those mistakes today risks another lost decade for Britain.
 

Nov 10, 2025

10 min

The news is lying to you — and Britain is falling apart behind the scenes
Every night, the lights are bright, the headlines loud — but the real news is missing.
While the media fixates on Trump, Farage and the Royals, Britain’s children go hungry, families can’t afford homes, and carers are exhausted.
In this video, I explain how the theatre of distraction keeps us angry but uninformed — and why we must reclaim the news for the Politics of Care: food, housing, health, and climate.
Watch, share, and join the conversation: it’s time to stop funding the circus.

Nov 9, 2025

14 min

Arthur Laffer’s “curve” is one of the most destructive ideas in modern economics.
Sketched on a napkin in the 1970s, it claimed that cutting tax rates could increase government revenue.
It became gospel for Reagan, Thatcher and every neoliberal government since.
But it was wrong.
In this video, I explain why Laffer misunderstood tax, ignored inequality, and helped unleash tax competition that undermined democracy.
I debated Laffer in person — and I’ll show you why his logic collapses when tested against modern money and real economies and the idea that fair taxation builds strong societies, whilst low taxation builds fragile ones.
 

Nov 8, 2025

7 min

Donald Trump’s Great Gatsby–style party at Mar-a-Lago reveals everything about modern America — excess at the top, hunger at the bottom, and the deliberate cruelty of power without care. As millions faced cuts to essential payments, Trump partied. This is what happens when power forgets compassion.

Nov 7, 2025

5 min

The government says there’s a “black hole” in the public finances — but the black hole is really in our hospitals, schools, and local councils, not the Treasury. The UK can never run out of money. What we’ve run out of is political courage.
Austerity was not fiscal responsibility. It was economic vandalism.
Britain is not broke. It’s been broken by design.
Watch to see how we can fill that hole with truth, courage, and care.

Nov 6, 2025

9 min

Nationalism can be a politics of care — about belonging, culture, and democracy — or a politics of control, built on fear and exclusion.
In this video, I explore how nationalism can empower the powerless, but also how it can curdle into prejudice.
I suggest that identifying the two is easy: good nationalism expands empathy, whilst toxic nationalism shrinks it.
So, what do you think? Is nationalism good or bad?

Nov 5, 2025

10 min

Thomas Piketty called it the most important formula in economics: it's R > G , which means that the rate of return on capital (R) is greater than the rate of growth in the economy (G).
That simple equation explains why the wealthy always get richer, why inequality keeps growing, and why governments pretend it’s inevitable when it isn’t.
In this video, I unpack how political choices and not economic laws have made wealth compound and wages stagnate, and what we can do to reverse it.

Nov 4, 2025

12 min

Rachel Reeves stood at a Downing Street podium this morning and panicked. Three weeks before her budget, she admitted what many already feared, that she's going to deliver austerity for most, and comfort for the City.
In this video, I explain why her panic matters, why she misunderstands how money works, and how she could take control of the economy instead of surrendering it to the markets.
Watch to understand what’s really happening behind the scenes and why this could be the most dangerous Labour budget in a generation.

Nov 4, 2025

9 min

What if we designed society before we knew who we’d be in it? Philosopher John Rawls asked that question in A Theory of Justice, and his answer was revolutionary. Fairness, he said, means building institutions that protect everyone, not just the powerful.
In this video, I explore how Rawls’ veil of ignorance could reshape politics, taxation, and economics today, and why justice must be built into policy rather than be added as charity.
What would you change if you didn’t know where you’d stand?

Nov 3, 2025

11 min

Is the breakup of Britain inevitable?
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are turning away from Westminster while England clings to a failing system of centralised power. In this video, I ask whether the UK can survive much longer in its current form, and whether its collapse might be the chance to start again.
Could four sovereign democracies emerge from the ruins of a tired union?

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