Section: Economy

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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 […]

The paradox at the heart of capitalist growth

Jason Hickel
stockmarket price screen

There is an extraordinary paradox at the heart of capitalist growth in rich economies, which is important to understand. Here’s how it works: First, capital seeks to privatise and enclose key goods that we need in order to live – healthcare, housing, energy, transport, etc – making these things increasingly expensive for us to access. […]

Sunak’s choice: help or harm?

Richard Murphy
Chancellor Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak has a choice to make in his upcoming budget. He could provide the support most households in the UK will need if they are to be able to pay their bills in the next year. If he doesn’t provide it, we are in meltdown. This is Richard Murphy’s article on the impact of […]

Let’s tax dirty oil and gas profits to tackle the cost of living crisis

Tom Scott
Dirty profits tax poster

A ‘Dirty Profit Tax’ would help to address both extreme levels of poverty and the accelerating climate emergency, argues Tom Scott. This winter, millions of people in our country are facing extreme poverty. The cost-of-living crisis, largely caused by the dramatic rise in oil and gas prices, means that many are already having to choose […]

Brexit’s impact on Bournemouth

Sarah Cowley
UK and EU flags on jigsaw puzzle pieces, held apart

Perhaps the journalist for Bournemouth Echo had guessed that Jacob Rees-Mogg was about to be handed the ‘exciting’ challenge of proving the advantages of Brexit. None seem to be immediately discernible. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released a report on 9 February, which revealed that “the only detectable impact so far is increased costs, paperwork […]

Seeking driving work in the times of Brexit and the hostile environment

Tomasz Oryński
Articulated lorry cab

You might remember my articles from last year, when I explained why people don’t want to work as lorry drivers anymore. I came with several reasons why Britain suffers from a driver shortage. Surely now, when we have established that the economy does needs truckers, companies would be doing everything to attract them, right? Surely […]