Section: Economy

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What every Labour MP should know

Mark E Thomas

While in opposition, Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer spoke of the need for a decade of national renewal; and since they have taken office, the evidence of the need for that renewal has grown even stronger. They have also spoken about a “financial black hole, the £22bn of unfunded spending commitments, concealed from our country by the […]

How to become a billionaire

Mark E Thomas

There is a rather wonderful story about billionaires. According to this story, a small number of exceptionally gifted and hard-working people, through their own talent and dedication, create and build businesses which both enrich themselves and hugely benefit the rest of the world: their customers, their employees, their suppliers and the rest of society (via […]

A Community Wealth fund for Cornwall?

Gavin Barker

Throughout last year, a small working group met under the aegis of Cornwall Independent Poverty Forum  to design a Community Wealth fund for Cornwall. This is a proposed £10 million  investment fund which will be used to invest in local businesses, community enterprises and university startups in a way that accelerates the transition to a […]

Brexit and farming

Emma Monk

Four years on from Brexit, I’m taking a look at how various industries have been affected by the realities of our decision to leave the EU. The first in the series looked at ‘How fishing was gutted by Brexit’, and this time I’m going to look at how British farming has fared. Before I begin, […]

How fishing was gutted by Brexit

Emma Monk

Having recently ‘celebrated’ the anniversary of Brexit, it seemed like a good time to look at how various British industries and sectors of society have fared four years on from leaving the European Union (EU). This will be done over a series of articles, the first focusing on the Brexit poster child – The Fishing […]

The budget we SHOULD have had…

Mark E Thomas

Getting the Budget right is a critically important part of governing well. If the Budget is well-formulated, it gives space to address the real issues; if it is not, then whatever promises politicians make, they will not be able to keep. Frequently, Budget analysis in the media does not look at it this way and […]

A budget for the wealthiest

Mark E Thomas

All Budgets are important, but this one is especially critical: 13 years of market fundamentalist policy choices have left the UK in a state of decay, with a weak economy, falling real wages, a cost-of-living crisis and growing poverty. Our public services are on their knees: our schools are crumbling and even our cherished NHS is struggling […]

You can bank on Rishi Sunak to do the wrong thing

Mick Fletcher

In July 2023, Rishi Sunak made a surprising public attack on the leaders of a major UK bank. “Rishi Sunak slams Coutts”. It is perhaps not surprising, however, that he picked the wrong issue. What prompted his unusual intervention was the denial of one sort of bank account to one rich man. Sunak ought to […]

Growth, growth, growth

Malcolm Baldwin

Listen up! Pay attention! This affects us all! There can hardly be a politician anywhere in the world who does not yearn for economic growth. It was the mantra that won Liz Truss the key to number 10, and now economic growth is central to Kier Starmer’s vision for the future: he wants to achieve […]

How not to handle the cost-of-living crisis

Mark E Thomas

Churchill commented, “It is a joke in Britain to say that the War Office is always preparing for the last war. But this is probably true of other departments and of other countries, and it was certainly true of the French Army.” It is certainly true of the Treasury and the Bank of England in their […]

Interest rates are fuelling inflation

Richard Murphy

I have been suggesting that interest rate rises are fuelling inflation. I have created a model of a company that is largely service-based to explore my suggestion. Using that model I show that it is more likely that interest than wages push up prices.  This is the starting point for this model: The figures are […]

Stop gaslighting us! The CPTPP deal is PANTS!

Anthea Simmons

Let’s leave aside for a moment the whole issue of democracy, sovereignty and ‘taking back control’ which is covered in this article from Jon Danzig, and instead call out the abject gaslighting and lies being spewed out to defend a lamentable deal that has some real nasties hidden inside it. It’s not for nothing that […]

Hunt’s defeatist budget needlessly fails to tackle our problems

Mark E Thomas

Hunt’s latest Budget shows the UK heading for a dismal future. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the UK is now facing two years with the sharpest fall in living standards since records began. The economy will contract again this year. The level of taxation is at the highest for many decades. Our growth […]

Jeremy Hunt’s maxing out the credit card nonsense

Richard Murphy

Jeremy Hunt is saying we cannot max out the national credit card this morning. This is total nonsense. There is no national credit card. Instead it’s the job of government to make the money we use. And since it can always make that money, it can never max out on credit. Hunt wants you to […]

Truss and Kwarteng are panicking about the £. So they should

Andrew Levi

The Sunday Times reports that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are panicking about the £. So they should. Or rather, they should take the necessary action. Now. Andrew Levi sets out what they need to do to avert disaster: ✅ massive extra govt spending (otherwise business, economic and social collapse) ✅ tax back much of […]

Total blackout

Andrew Levi

Britain’s imminent energy Armageddon, and how to avoid it: in a long read, Andrew Levi warns that the scale and nature of the crisis is still widely misunderstood, and the measures needed to address it woefully underdeveloped. Brexit, a unique act of self-harm, worsens the UK’s situation. Without great good luck, only radical immediate action […]