Newsnight’s Joe Lynam put together a package about economic recovery in Lincolnshire – a community that shows signs of emerging from the recession. I was then invited onto the show to comment on the sustainability of the latest growth figures.
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(Photo Source: Washington Examiner) At their annual meeting in Tokyo this year, IMF economists destroyed the case for austerity. While their analysis constituted a small part of a routine report – the World Economic Outlook – and was technical in form, the devastating impact of their conclusions could not be ignored by the media. These IMF conclusions are of the greatest possible importance and must not be allowed to be lost with the passage of time. We are concerned that they should be fully understood by the public at large. From PRIME, this briefing by Ann Pettifor and Douglas Coe sets out the issues, including the implications of the new IMF analysis of multipliers, as well as the UK Treasury assumptions which are now heavily questioned.
In this PRIME analysis, Douglas Coe and I are republishing work we did back in December 2009. That was when we first made an evidence-based case against austerity. We show in this analysis that in a downturn - thanks to the multiplier – increased public investment on sound projects pays for itself. We have taken the decision to republish this work as evidence that those of us who opposed austerity from the start did so on the basis of careful analysis. This cannot always be said of the proponents of fiscal consolidation and austerity. The work was published in collaboration with the New Economics Foundation and the Green New Deal group as part of “The Cuts Won’t Work” in December 2009. To download the analysis, click here.
(Photo Source: CLASS) Posted below is a piece I wrote on October 10 for the new Centre of Labour and Social Studies, where I serve on the National Advisory Panel. I discuss the chicanery of political party economics. The original post can be read here:
”Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left.”
-Liam Byrne, Guardian, 17 May 2010
“The British government has run out of money because all the money was spent in the good years. The money and the investment and the jobs need to come from the private sector…”
This week’s Conservative Party proceedings were distasteful for their defence of the rich and for attacks on the poor. The Chancellor implied that the government could only find £10bn of ‘savings’ by robbing the most vulnerable in society of their benefits. That’s shocking and distasteful policy; but it’s the chicanery of the economics that I want to discuss here. Continue reading… ›
(Photo Source: TransitionHeathrow) On 28th August, I was invited on to BBC Newsnight to debate the economic case for or against a third runway (R3) at Heathrow. At the last minute, Nick Clegg’s unrequited call for a wealth tax became the focus for the programme, leaving little chance to debate the Heathrow issue. On the panel with me was Emma Duncan, Deputy Editor of The Economist. She had that day announced her flightpath-to-Damascus conversion to the pro-R3 camp, joining Tim Yeo MP in what looks like an orchestrated campaign. The Coalition Government has insisted that it is not for turning, for the moment, but there are strong hints that at least the Conservative Party proposes to change its position for the next election. So the issue will not go away, we can be sure. Jeremy Smith and I thought it worthwhile recording why – on economic as well as environmental grounds – we remain strongly against the Heathrow extension, and against building any new major airport in the London and south-east region. We therefore also disagree with those who oppose the Heathrow extension but favour a major new airport in say the Thames Estuary. We have set out the issues and arguments in a Prime Position paper, downloadable here. On July 17, I gave a lecture at the SPERI (Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute) inaugural conference at the University of Sheffield. I discussed the recent LIBOR scandal and its implications for finance and industry. View the video below: I appeared on Al Jazeera’s Inside Story last night (June 27) to discuss the financial crisis and what this means for Europe. During the panel discussion, I stated that: “Markets are not accountable to the European public so really what we should be thinking about is what the people of Europe want and that’s not really being taken into account …. What is happening in Europe is that taxpayers are having the full burden of costs thrust on them … and that is unfair.” Watch the entire show above. The E-petition is already up on the government website and ready for signing – click here to access it. I hope that debtonation readers and followers who share my view that a full-scale judicial public inquiry is now urgently required will not only sign up, but encourage friends and colleagues to do so. Finally, my apologies to the government website people – in my last post I said “government websites do not move rapidly” – but this time they did!
(Photo Source: goldsilver.com) Following the gentle fines on Barclays Bank for its sustained manipulation of LIBOR interest rates, I have submitted an e-petition to government for a judicial public inquiry. The terms are as follows: “Public inquiry into wrongdoing and ethics of bankers We the undersigned call for an independent, judicial public enquiry into fraud, wrongdoing and ethics of British banks, their management and their staff, and the role of the British Bankers Association. This inquiry should include the manipulation of interest rates on about £225 trillion of assets. This inquiry must have full powers to compel witnesses to appear on oath, and to obtain all forms of evidence.” I will inform you as soon as I receive confirmation (government websites do not move rapidly!). I first raised the issue of corrupt manipulation of LIBOR four years ago, in May 2008, in an article here on the Debtonation blogsite. I concluded:
Cartoon by Steve Greenberg. Used with artist’s permission and may not be reposted. www.greenberg-art.com On 19th May, I attended the Winning Labour conference in Doncaster. I gave a talk titled, “What you need to know- and what they don’t want you to know” and have posted my speech notes below:
“Modern finance is generally incomprehensible to ordinary men and women….. The level of comprehension of many bankers and regulators is not significantly higher. It was probably designed that way. Like the wolf in the fairy tale: “All the better to fleece you with.” –Satyajit Das,a risk consultant and author of Traders,Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives –Revised Edition (2010, FT-Prentice Hall). “Ignoring the role of private debt in an economy is like driving without accounting for your blind-spot…..The crisis we are in suddenly becomes entirely explicable—and predictable before the event—when the blind-spot on debt is removed. ” –Steve Keen. LSE Blog, 14 March, 2012. |
In the September 2003 edition of openDemocracy I wrote: 
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