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29 October, 2009 Dan Roberts has a great column in the Guardian today. He asks the right questions. First, why is the Treasury spending £8 billion of taxpayers money reinflating the housing market? Second, why is the Treasury encouraging this now nationalised bank to increase mortgage lending, when the productive sector of the economy –
I promised to explain – to Alastair, a reader of this blog - the link made earlier between 1945 and today’s supposed government ‘debt crises’. Sorry if its a little long – but a promise is a promise. I consider the scaremongering around government debt to be nothing more than an over-egged and salted buttermilk pudding dished up by the economic quackery of the Her Majesty’s Opposition. Not unlike that ancient remedy for (verbal) diarrhoea, it is intended to induce intellectual constipation – in those that absorb it in spoonfuls at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, the Treasury and City of London. We should have nothing to do with such childish prescriptions. To illuminate and evidence my point let me offer you (below) a chart – with data provided by Her Majesty’s Treasury (Public finances databank, Table A10 http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/public_finances_databank.xls) and with thanks to my colleagues in the Green New Deal group. 26 October, 2009 As readers of this blog will know, together with luminaries such as Caroline Lucas MEP, Larry Elliott, Richard Murphy (he of the revolutionary Tax Justice Network) and Colin Hines, I am one of the co-authors of the Green New Deal – highlighted on this page. I am therefore proud of
Taking a leaf out of Simon Cowell’s book – an immodest boast: a couple of days ago the Guardian invited a range of economists/commentators to give a zero to 10 rating for ‘green shoots’ in the economy – in effect to revise our ratings produced in the Spring. I am the only contributor to argue for a zero rating – Ruth Lea of the Arbuthnot Banking Group improves her rating to 2.5 – up from 1. Bang on time, the GDP numbers appeared – and ‘unexpectedly’ (for the Danni Minogue school of economists) GDP is down again – and this is now the longest recession since records began in 1955 – which goes some way to explaining the rise of the BNP. My comment posted below: Gillian Tett has a great piece in this weekend’s FT (17/18 October, 2009). Its all about Michael Moore’s use in his latest movie, of a piece of research undertaken by Citigroup’s ‘global equity strategists” into today’s ‘plutonomies’ – economies powered by rich elites. The report (published in 2004) identified the US and the Lloyds Bank’s audacious takeover of its major competitor (HBOS) – heavily disguised at the time as a rescue bid – has been challenged by ‘Brussels’ – that is the European Commission. In fact it was not a rescue bid – the hasty takeover almost sank Lloyds, and the taxpayer had quickly to undertake another
My excuse is that I have been in America for a couple of weeks, and what an eye-opener that was. There, awareness of the causes and culprits behind the crisis of economic failure is much more widespread and openly debated, and much better understood than it is here in the UK. There the debate is now led by individuals like Michael Moore and his new movie and Arianna Huffington’s HuffPost. Both clearly identify the finance sector’s (and Goldman Sachs’s) responsibility for the suffering of millions of unemployed (without healthcare) and homeless Americans, as well as those who have lost investments whose businesses have gone bust, or whose pensions have evaporated. .. There the battle lines have been clearly drawn between Wall St. and Main St. Between the American People and Wall St. Banks. And in the United States people are mobilising…see this planned event: “Showdown in Chicago: Put People First.” 25th September, 2009. This was my comment on the conclusion of the Pittsburgh G20 Summit – posted on the Huffington Post. Today the Summit of world leaders — the G20 — ended in a spirit of good cheer. World leaders are united, they’re confident and they’re looking forward. They have looked closely at |
In the September 2003 edition of openDemocracy I wrote: 
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