Funding the Future

Why are £23 billion of benefits unpaid a year?

£23 billion of benefits are not paid in the UK a year. Why is it that finding those who are due to be paid is not a national priority?

The Age of Aggression

Trump’s second arrival in the White House marks a shift in political economy.  We’re entering the Age of Aggression – a new era in political economy. After WW2 we had the Age of Compassion. Neoliberalism was the Age of Indifference. Now we have naked force taking control.

What is Trump going to do?

Trump was slow to get going in his first presidency. This time he’s planning on an impact from day one, and that impact could be horrible, and the repercussions terrible.

There’s no growth, so what should Labour do?

Labour’s plan for government is based on some vague aspirations that are almost meaningless, and probably undeliverable. So, what should it do?

Was Biden right in the end?

Joe Biden’s swan-song speech to the people of the USA warned about the threat to the people of the USA from what he called the tech-industrial complex, otherwise known as Musk and his tech billionaire friends. Was he right to do so? But was he also too late?

When will Labour oust Rachel Reeves?

Rachel Reeves says it is her pre-election promise – to balance the books – that Labour must deliver. But 20 other cabinet ministers also made promises – and are being denied the chance to deliver them by Reeves. How long is it before they oust her?

Housing costs are destroying people’s chances

The UK has housing costs 44% higher than equivalent costs in similar countries. That means instead of fueling growth and providing for children, the younger people who pay these costs are fueling growing inequality. Something has got to give.

Reform wants to destroy the UK economy

Reform has proposed a Bill in parliament that would destroy the ability of the UK government to create money. Worse still, it wants us to use gold – which we’d have to import – as the basis for issuing money. A policy of that sort would crash UK economic credibility and our economy.

Where is the UK economy now?

The UK economy need not be stuck in a rut. It’s Rachel Reeves’ choice that it is. If only she demanded lower interest rates from the Bank of England and let the government spend to transform public services, we could be in a great place. She won’t though, making her the impediment to progress.

Rich people shrink the economy

Most of any country’s saving is done by its wealthiest people. But because the rich are obsessed with staying rich they save in ways that are unproductive. The result is they drain economies of productive spending and so shrink them. The answer? Tax them more.