Comments by "David McCulloch" (@davidmcculloch8490) on "Richard J Murphy" channel.

  1. The rich also got richer after the crash, as much of the newly-created money flowed in their directions through loans to buy up assets, which they rent back to us at extortionate rates. Gary Stevenson explains this in his videos.
    241
  2. America may have become the world joke yet again but the consequences are not a laughing matter. With our single transferable party system in the UK, we could well slide into fascism. We need people who care about humanity to come together.
    186
  3. A tax on employment while promising growth: a kindergarten error.
    99
  4. Absolutely true. Inequality also stifles growth, as money in the pay packet of the average person is largely spent in the domestic economy. Money in the bank accounts of the rich is either moved offshore, spent on luxury goods, or used to buy assets to rent back to us at excessive prices. The rich extract more from society; that's how they become rich.
    90
  5. Growth is largely restricted by inequality. Put money in the pockets of the average citizens and they spend it in the local economy. Put it in the bank accounts of the wealthiest and they either move it offshore or buy assets to rent back to us at extortionate prices.
    75
  6. Many of the execs of fortune 500 companies are sociopathic, which chimes with your comment.
    66
  7. Just like Farage
    50
  8. Sadly true, and I'm glad you said the quiet part out loud. We will not be returning to austerity because we never left it. As a pensioner losing the WFA, I can attest to the irony of her claim. Growth from hope - the business-friendly party with a begging bowl...expect more PFI when we need government-led investment. No plans to tax wealth? No plans to address inequality, which is stifling growth? Sadly, a speech written by AI and delivered by a robot.
    45
  9. Making money work for society is a novel idea, because the financial sector is consumed by greed. We need government to work for the people.
    44
  10. President Moron would qualify as pure comedy if the consequences of his madness weren't so serious. Neoliberalism has failed the majority, as was intended.
    41
  11. The brain of America - tariff man Chump - promises to reduce inflation while imposing tariffs. Perhaps he has a new system of maths.
    40
  12. Reeves is the worst chancellor Starmer could have chosen. A traditional ex-BofE economist devoid of progressive policies. She talks about growrh get suppresses it. Inequality stifles growth and targeted investment stimulates it. As a recipient of one of the worst state pensions in Europe, I'm p1ssed that I must give up a winter fuel allowance while energy companies profiteer. Why not increase the windfall tax on them?
    39
  13. He was in the minority. Iceland did this but Britain was far too dependant on financial services to do it. The solution has to fit the economy. America also followed us btw
    38
  14. Resistance of MMT is motivated by keeping power in the hands of banks for the imposition of austerity. No politician (in office) in Britain is brave enough to embrace it.
    37
  15. Since Thatcher we have done the reverse. Selling off our national assets to foreign companies (some owned by foreign governments) and failing to invest in Britain. We are left with a nation of bankers and speculators, along with relatively few skilled and knowledgeable trades people propping us up. Neoliberalism (free market economics) is extractive by nature. We need change and Richard is telling us how to achieve that.
    36
  16. Martin Lewis declared, at least a year ago, that "the market is broken". We also find that regulation is a joke and no politician is brave enough to nationalise supply. Politicians work for corporate interets and NOT for the people.
    34
  17. A ruse to keep the debt off balance sheet but we pay through the nose for "rent". We are already owned by corporate interests. Time for real democracy.
    33
  18. I believe we are in a void, rather than in any political space. Our economy is in paralysis because of inequality, with politicians lacking the courage to change it. We exist in an elective dictatorship when we need real democracy.
    32
  19. So poignant. I suspect that Starmer dances to the same tune as Trump and Farage. A follower; not a leader.
    31
  20. Yes. The unicorns were lining up in Brexiter's imagination.
    28
  21. The book Bullshit Jobs by the late David Graeber explained how the jobs most useful to society were often low paid. So much for the free market.
    27
  22. Not sure how much she knows, or doesn't... But putting yourself in a straightjacket by accepting Tory fiscal rules and failing to put pressure on the BofE is crass stupidity.
    27
  23. The misunderstanding is perpetuated by lazy journalism: taking briefings from press releases without analysis or explanation. I have an ongoing debate with the BBC labelling the difference between government spending and tax receipts as debt. It's either a deficit or a surplus, which is entirely different.
    25
  24. I had an enlightened boss while working in a role from 25 to 12 years ago (before retirement). Although I travelled nationally for site visits, my office work was done from a well equipped home office in Lancashire. I reported in to London and my boss did not want me to be biased towards any region. My productivity was also improved by this arrangement, as I often worked longer hours instead of travelling.
    25
  25. ​ @billB101 would you call Switzerland weak? Weakness and strength are terms for consumption by the vacuous.
    24
  26. Words do matter. Yet they probably matter far less to a sociopath. Society is important and we should work together, against the lunatics who have taken over the asylum.
    22
  27. Absolutely true. Does the economy work for banks or are banks to provide a service to the economy?
    21
  28. Government simply retreats when the word "investment" is mentioned. We need a larger state working with and for its citizens.
    20
  29. Great work, prof. You clearly care about society, while calling out the danger of neoliberalism. Change is long overdue and you are one of the few making the case.
    20
  30. Agreed. Pathetic, petty and duplicitous.
    20
  31. ​ @kr050 or the Devil?
    20
  32. The last thing we need is the mindset of a banker in office. The BofE is currently working against the government. We need transformative economics, and banks working for society in support.
    20
  33. It's more about the use and distribution of money. Inequality stifles growth. Put money in the pocket pf the average person and they will spend it in the home economy. Put most of the cash in the hands of the richest and they will either move it offshore or buy assets to rent back to us at extortionate prices. Gary Stevenson of the patriotic millionaires further explains this in his videos.
    20
  34. The dilemma, imo, is that we don't have real democracy - we have an elective dictatorship (to quote Lord Hailsham). We need a system where all votes are equal and seats are commensurate with votes (PR). We need rules of accountability where a manifesto is a contract and needs referenda to change any significant policy outside it. We need to stop interference at elections and prohibit corporate funding of parties. We need to reform the system and clean up politics to achieve democracy. We also need media reform by implementing Leveson as a start.
    19
  35. Our "special relationship" is that of a serf with their master. It's hard to laugh with their foot on our throat.
    19
  36. Politicians swallow an obsession with "borrowing" as the media talk about the national debt, without taking cognisance of state assets. In reality, when creating money we are borrowing from ourselves, yet no distinction is made for the purposes of forcing a small state and imposing austerity. We are continually being scammed and our politicians are complicit.
    18
  37. Credit and respect to you, Richard. Follow your dreams and develop your vision. Your work is an inspiration. All the best for 2025.
    18
  38. The situation with Truss had one big difference. She wanted to cut taxes for the failed scam of trickle down. We need the opposite: government investment in infrastructure and public services.
    18
  39. Another excellent summary from a professor who communicates clearly. Thank you. I remember David Cameron, when PM, praising the British buccaneering spirit. That would be great language for an entitled sociopath who views dodgy trading as a game; but for a national leader? Unfortunately the London laundromat is symptomatic of our attitude to trade: money is king and profiteering is part of the game. Responsibility is for mugs. Del Boy was a saint compared with the charlatans with power. Who will clean up the mess?
    18
  40. We have yet to see a government brave enough to embrace modern monetary theory (MMT) and think beyond tax and spend. Our politicians act as though Tricky Dickie (Nixon) didn't abolish the gold reserve, so they can govern in the interests of wealth and capital to keep the rest of us relatively poor. These videos explain the possibilities and cut through government excuses. If only Reeves and Starmer would listen...
    17
  41. I would say asset rather than agent. An asset may not know how they are being used, and Putin is playing him like a cheap fiddle.
    17
  42. Why make something simple, when government can use a ruse to benefit the financial sector, then pay through the nose for it? Our system exists to fund and exacerbate inequality. We even had the insult of Hunt reducing taxation on banks after they took the money. We all work for the banks; they don't work for us.
    17
  43. We get less transparency and accountability when we need more, both in government and in commerce. Another great insight, Richard.
    17
  44. There is the further question of how newly created money is used. When money has been created recently, it has been sloshing around in banks then used by the wealthiest to buy assets, who rent them back to us at extortionate prices. If we created new money for direct investment in infrastructure, that would hold less risk of inflation and wouldn't exacerbate inequality. A stonger infrastructure would also attract new business investment.
    17
  45. Quite the reverse: the state must regulate and mitigate corporate power. We live in an oligarchy.
    16
  46. This argument was proved by Iceland after the banking crash. Put money in the pockets of the lower paid and they will spend it in the home economy. Put money in the hands of the wealthiest and they will either invest it (some of it offshore) or spend it on assets that offer less growth to the home economy. Assets such as homes often push up house prices, making them unaffordable to the poorest.
    16
  47. A great description. Neoliberalism has been disastrous for society because it has succeeded in its central objective: to get the poor to vote for the rich to have more. We have trickle down when we need flow down for investment in efficient state services and infrastructure.
    16
  48. A classic sociopath
    16
  49. ​ @physiocrat7143 Enjoy your trolling? Tax is not left in a bank; it is spent again and circulates. Taxation also controls inflation.
    16
  50. Yet there will be some delusional followers who will believe his excuses when he shifts blame - even after multiple cock-ups and mayhem.
    16
  51. The term 'responsible capitalism' describes a noble aspiration, but it's proving to be an oxymoron with the irresponsible idiots in charge.
    15
  52. A great explanation. Prof Bill Mitchell (in his book Reclaiming the State) refers to this limit as the productive resources, which probably amounts to the same thing. He also wisely differentiates between the real economy and the financial one. If we spend wisely, such as on the infrastructure and green investment, we not only address under-employment but also help to mitigate climate change.
    15
  53. The best news I've heard or read in the last few years. The neoliberal model, propped up by government sociopathy, has failed. The city of London is a club, with its own unelected representative taking a seat in parliament behind the speaker's chair. We need economics for society, and not to preserve the wealth and power of the few. Voices of learning and reason should be consulted by government and listened to. Time for change... We really haven't had enough of experts, as Brexit has proved beyond doubt.
    14
  54. To my knowledge, no government has been brave enough to embrace MMT, probably to maintain the status quo and preserve inequality by keeping power in the hands of the financial sector. I first became aware of MMT by reading Reclaiming the State (Mitchell and Fazi). Neoliberalism has suppressed growth by creatiing inequality and we need a government brave enough to reverse it.
    14
  55. The excuse of tax and spend, used to excuse austerity is the exact opposite of reality: which is spend and tax
    14
  56. Whereas letting the economy collapse? Who would have suffered most?
    14
  57. Trump lives on planet Ego and is consumed by greed.
    14
  58. This commentary hits the nail on the head. It's all about power and the preservation of failed neoliberalism. The main reason why no government is brave enough to implement MMT (imo) is fear: that the financial markets will rail against it. There is a good reason why Mitchell and Fazi titled their early book on MMT "Reclaiming the State". It's the antidote for neoliberalism, and the best potential solution to its inevitable scourge of inequality, which coincidentally suppresses growth.
    14
  59. Using interest rates as the sole tool to control cost-push inflation is like a golfer playing a national championship with a single club in their bag. (To paraphrase Ted Heath.) When Gordon Brown gave this power to the BofE, I could see the benefit of depoliticising it and involving professionals. Unfortunately said professionals applied too light a touch and allowed greed to cause the banking crash. Giving politicians an excuse to blame someone else is always dangerous, so, yes, on balance, government should be involved in setting interest rates. Currently, we work for banks instead of them working for society.
    13
  60. A great message. Time to think of others and replace greed with compassion and a sense of community.
    13
  61. Absolutely true...a nation of cap doffers. We need to develop bullsh1t detectors and engage critical thinking.
    12
  62. Totally agree and love the fact that you adopt MMT. One of the great gaps in Labour was the fact that they did not advocate MMT principles. Your explanations are clear and concise.
    12
  63. The man named after a giant fart will be a disaster for the environment. Let's listen for the Tories denouncing his "protectionist" policies. Don't hold your breath...
    12
  64. I couldn't agree more. FPTP is simply undemocratic in my view: there is no such thing as unrepresentative democracy. The party whip is a further impediment to democracy, particularly if it is overused. Seeing compromise as a dirty word may suit oligarch media owners but it is folly because life is a series of compromises in the pursuit of peace, happiness and improvement.
    12
  65. Indeed. Teaching critical thinking would be a good start. Albeit against the interests of dodgy politicians.
    12
  66. ​​ @adenwellsmith6908 You have identified a deliberate weakness: in the method of accounting. Why is a balance sheet not published, showing state asset values? Fixation on "debt" (largely indebtedness to ourselves) is designed to keep us compliant with the propaganda of neoliberalism.
    11
  67. Couldn't agree more, Richard. It's what makes us human. Greed is not good; ambition is. Many of us find ultimate pleasure in helping others. Some work extremely hard for the benefit of society.
    10
  68. Unfortunately government constrains us by failing to subscribe to MMT (modern monetary theory) as explained here. Why? I suspect it's about keeping control in the hands of banks to protect the wealth of the few. Why must we work for the benefit of the financial sector when it should work for society? A further dilemma on the state balance sheet is the lack of assets. We have sold them off and most are owned by private companies and foreign governments. This means that we need to use an overdraft for investment, to stimulate growth. Many say that Brown sold off the gold. More serious imo is that Thatcher started a fire sale of our national infrastructure. It was sold far too cheaply for the benefit of private profit and the lie of trickle down.
    10
  69. Singapore will verify your claim. Spot on
    10
  70. ​ @Leapops never assume that intelligence is commensurate with wealth.
    10
  71. PFI was a wheeze recommended by business consultants to keep asset values off balance sheet. A wheeze that has cost us far more than "borrowing" through bond issues.
    10
  72. My summary of Westminster government is: being seen to do something; rarely the right thing; never enough. Devolution was the right thing, so Westminster did a half-arsed job to keep hold of the strings.
    10
  73. It's always the same question: stupidity or playing dumb to con the public? Either way, politicians follow a narrative that harms prosperity for the majority. Intentionally or inadvertently? Who do they work for?
    10
  74. Indicative these numbers may be but the fact that the government doesn't think things through is irrefutable.
    9
  75. This is the price of an elective dictatorship, where seats don't match votes so that votes are not equal. With true PR, a party with less than half the vote share would never have a majority of seats, and would have to work in partnership or by consensus.
    9
  76. Absolutely sound idea and the present level of permitted opacity is alarming. It's as though we are inviting corrupt practices to suit dodgy people in business. Wait a minute! Who funds these parties? Do they work for the people? Without transparency, democracy is a myth.
    9
  77. Small state gives us inferior health and education. Since when has society prospered with that? We need change, and your explanation is poignant.
    9
  78. Which politician will be brave enough to listen and modernise education? Gove promised to "drive up standards" with more reliance on learning by rote and exams. This was after Blair had appointed an ex school chief inspector who proposed less reliance on exams and greater use of a more flexible syllabus marked by teacher assessment. (Which Blair inevitably ignored.) Add to this economic and social inequality, damaging the planet's survival for greed, and how do we expect to fill our youth with hope?
    9
  79. I can think of another word beginning with D to describe Trump: Deranged. He simply lives in an alternate reality.
    9
  80. So accurate. We have a voting system that enables what Lord Hailsham called an elective dictatorship. A parliament that serves as a House of Lies, lacking effective scrutiny. How can we expect anything else when a manifesto is not a contract? Currently the best and most accurate summary on YouTube. Please keep up your good work.
    8
  81. The further problem of financialisation adds to this imbalance. When leading companies, such as Apple and Pfizer, spend more on share buy backs than on R&D we see the value of financial services to society being little more than a casino. Yet politicians talk about productivity...
    8
  82. Presumably, accounting priciples were designed when smaller entities created the majority of world trade. Today the larger companies thrive on opacity, as the rules have become outdated. It's hard to analyse a complex mass; instead it must be broken down into its component parts. It's impossible to get fair play if the most powerful set the rules. A great video by a true professional seeking justice and social fairness. Highly informative, as ever.
    8
  83. Thank you, Richard. I've been aware of your work for a few years and find it valuable and informative. If you help people to cut through the political smoke and mirrors, and discover the false narratives on macro economics, you have helped society in the most effective way possible through your specialist knowledge. You are a great human being and I appreciate your work.
    8
  84. Calling newly-created money part of the national debt is crazy for the reasons you have explained before: how can we borrow from ourselves? This is further exacerbated by allowing commercial banks to issue the money and charge interest on the balancing amount on their books. The Tories created new money to fill holes, and this ended up in banks for use by the wealthiest for asset ownership and rental. If we issued new money specifically for rebuilding our infrastructure, this would cut out the easy route to inequality where we are blackmailed by corporate interests and our politicians are subservient to them.
    8
  85. I first became aware of MMT by reading Reclaiming the State by Mitchell and Fazi. Using the economy for the benefit of society is a novel idea and far removed from neoliberalism. If only...
    8
  86. Which is also stifling growth.
    8
  87. ​ @mdt105 The cut to winter fuel payments was a novice error. Instead increase the windfall tax on energy companies or cap fuel energy prices properly.
    8
  88. Definitely robotic. Clueless or bribed?
    8
  89. Very true observation of our economy in general, being inward looking and recycling old assets. We don't invest in ourselves as a country.
    8
  90. And this time, leaving the door open to fascists
    8
  91. Interesting account name: pseudonym or troll?
    8
  92. The danger is in taking things at face value imo. As Gary Stevenson has observed: economics uses complex models, often applied to flawed assumptions. Assumptions and constraints are key.
    7
  93. A great, and concise, explanation of MMT. I'm also an advocate after reading Reclaiming the State by Mitchell and fazi. It's a pity that none of our political parties are brave enough to explode the myth on tax and spend. That said, the Tories won't because the class war of austerity is in their DNA.
    7
  94. And how would that benefit you or anyone else?
    7
  95. I once heard a parallel argument that the majority are always wrong. The reasoning being that it takes someone thinking or acting differently to change the course of events or to invent something useful. There is too much conformity and mediocrity around us. Your videos are an inspiration and a breath of fresh air.
    7
  96. Indeed. A pretence at democracy.
    7
  97. Cutting interest rates? Yes. Also targeted government investment in infrastructure and key services. Yet my concern is that lower interest rates will drive up house prices unless the government invests in quality social housing and caps private rents.
    7
  98. The last part is not necessarily true: it depends on relative valuations.
    7
  99. Cameron, Osborne and Hunt. The three sociopathic bringers of austerity and economic incompetence. Sorry, Major was the last decent person in charge of the Tories imo.
    7
  100. No. That's the antithesis. Listen again and you will understand why.
    7
  101. Excellent sequence. You have done great work in your campaign, for the benefit of society. I smiled when you mentioned that Dodgy Dave (the political lobby king) advocated transparency. One of the true ironies of life.
    7
  102. Immediately after a Tory train wreck.
    7
  103. ​ @jameshutton3960 You fall so easily for divide and rule, created through the politics of envy.
    6
  104. The mindset of finding savings is suggesting that making cuts is more important than making improvements. The mindset of investment is alien to politicians. Listen to EveryDoctor and the people working in the service, rather than imposing top-down symbolism that has always failed the service.
    6
  105. Quoting Monty Python as a credible economist? That's desperate. "Loyal followers" or Reform groupies struggling? All of Richard's arguments make sense because the problem has been created by the aftermath. In a word, AUSTERITY.
    6
  106. I'm with you, Richard. The "centre" has consistently moved to the right (possibly to enable neoliberalism). The High Court has ruled that the government acted illegally in changing the boundaries of peaceful protest by statutory instrument. Lord Walney is also associated with Labour Friends of Israel and makes regular trips to said country. His report lacked any discussion with activist groups. Hardly impartial and each of these points you note could enable fascism. The door is open to the far right to step in and offer fake solutions to people's disgruntlement. We live in dark times.
    6
  107. ​ @ScottishRoss27 there are other methods, as explained by the patriotic millionaires and others. Tax asset wealth over £10 million. Tax investment income at the same rate as work income (including NI).
    6
  108. Keynesianism existed before the fiat currency. Hence your point is fallacy.
    6
  109. ​ @janwhite6038 Did you miss the explanation of capital in the video?
    6
  110. Totally agree. The further we can get from entrenched party positions at local level, the nearer we get to democracy.
    5
  111. Reeves is wrong on two counts imo. 1) Creating new money to invest in state projects (infrastructure and green energy for example) will promote growth. Going cap in hand for corporate investment won't - it will lead to the extraction of profit through rent (PFI contracts being a prime example). 2) Inequality stifles growth. Put money in the pockets of the average worker and they will spend it in the economy; put it in the bank accounts of the wealthiest and they will either move it offshore or buy assets to rent back to us at an extortionate price and boost their own wealth. Stopping the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners instead of increasing the windfall tax on energy companies or taxing wealth (as proposed by the patriotic millionaires) shows an inclination to pander to corporate wealth and inequality. A sure formula for low growth.
    5
  112. ​ @michaelrch is it stupidity? Or who are they working for? Either way, they are promising growth and constricting it by their economic policies.
    5
  113. Go back through his videos and LISTEN carefully before talking bollocks. Just a suggestion.
    5
  114. ​ @billB101 True. Yet the vast majority now know otherwise.
    5
  115. If that happens, America is toast. Putting your money on that would be questionable. The people need to resist the dictator.
    5
  116. Cutting the availability of money through high interest rates during periods of cost-push inflation achieves its objective: exacerbating inequality and keeping power in the hands of the wealthiest.
    5
  117. For how much longer can we sustain the work for pay model? AI will take jobs and employers will want fewer people to work more hours rather than significantly reducing the working week. We need drastic reform, yet Labour is doubling down on an almost obsolete model.
    5
  118. Relevance???
    5
  119. Government simply doesn't understand small business and probably doesn't want to, as it is sponsored and lobbied by corporate interest. The more corporate power, the less diversity in society. I wish Starmer would listen to these videos instead of McSweeney and his gang of charlatans.
    5
  120. Too much stereotyping and rhetoric in that comment imo. Where is your evidence? I've seen many similar inefficiencies in the private sector. We often need civil servants to counter stupid brain-farts so of course they favour the status quo or gradual, careful change.
    5
  121. A great speech outlining a transformative manifesto. Growth would be an automatic by-product. The danger is in the pushback from Londongrad and the financial markets, currently pulling the strings. The good fight would be hard, but worthwhile for the benefit of society and the survival of the planet. The neoliberal establishment would resist because of pure greed. If Starmer even made a start on this, I would see a ray of hope.
    5
  122. ​ @joepaluka9031 That's a stretch. International corporations and oligarchs add to the complexity to stifle competition with their patent lawyers. Why not start there?
    5
  123. Trump: for "transactional" read corrupt.
    5
  124. ​ @adenwellsmith6908 exactly how is socialism the problem? Have you noticed the unsustainable rise in inequality through neoliberalism?
    5
  125. And GDP is the least useful measure for the good of society and the protection of the planet.
    5
  126. Wow! A great analysis and a clear explanation. Quite chilling, and no surprise that the UK is complicit. We love to doff our caps to the wealthy, as many buy the fallacy of trickle-down.
    5
  127. Doesn't undermine. The fact remains that the political and economic circumstances were not comparable to the UK or other countries similar to ours. In this instance, the historic details detract.
    5
  128. ​ @gpw203 If you look at Farage's record, it's obvious what Reform would deliver: a banana republic without the bananas, while he extracts the golden nuggets.
    4
  129. I agree with taxing companies registered outside this country on its turnover in the UK, to stop the intellectual property offshore scam.
    4
  130. Purpose and information source are key in the critical thinking process when applying it to politics. I suspect that Starmer has been so absorbed in party in-fighting, with his manipulative propagandist McSweeney, that he has looked no further. Why think critically when power is achieved by dancing to the tune of string-pullers and donors? Our political system is a cesspit.
    4
  131. Excuses don't cut it. Every nation should take responsibility and set an example. We have outsourced our dirty production to China and India and resort to blaming them to wash our hands of responsibility.
    4
  132. Hence the term neo fascism.
    4
  133. The epitome of joined-up thinking. If only politicians would listen. We need to think differently and stop obsessing over flawed measures (such as GDP) that promote greed and feed destruction. As Gary Stevenson has indicated: economics is a set of protocols involving complex formulae based on flawed assumptions.
    4
  134.  @xtc2v  And who proposes that in the UK? Please answer or bot off.
    4
  135. Imo Reeves is a traditional economist who still buys the lie of trickle-down. Also Starmer is beholden to corporate sponsors
    4
  136. FFS. Have you not had the snow and ice? No milder than last year.
    4
  137. If only Sir Starmer would listen to Richard and Tax Justice UK instead of his ex-BofE economist. Time for politicians to grow some cajones! Creating new money to fill holes and avert disasters has been all-too-common; yet had we created it for investment in the infrastructure, we would be far healthier and wealthier. Depending on trickle-down has always been a lie designed to exacerbate inequality. It has gone too far.
    4
  138. Characteristics are key. Not every conceivable qualifying person
    4
  139. Yes. All of the above.
    4
  140. ​ @ster2600 which will actually help growth by putting more money in the economy and the government will get a large proportion back in tax as explained in yesterday's video
    4
  141. Hunt's idea of double entry bookkeeping was promising funding and failing to allocate money. On the other side of the ledger, he blamed civil servants.
    4
  142. The key factor of financialisation can't be over-emphasised, as Grace Blakeley articulates in her book Vulture Capitalism. When companies go public, their emphasis is on financial markets, leading two of the largest companies (Apple and Pfizer) to spend more on share buybacks than on R&D. Banks also spending more effort and resource on speculation, rather than on direct investment, results in the most dangerous "blob"...i.e. the financial one.
    4
  143. The fact is that the centre has moved further right to accommodate the lies of neoliberalism and vulture capitalism. I'm pretty much in the same space as you, Richard. There is such a thing as society and cooperation has enabled our survival as a species.
    4
  144. With the same purpose as any other weapons: predominantly a threat to preserve the balance of power.
    4
  145. The kind of equity proposed in this video would also encourage growth. Trickle down is a lie: we have seen periods of higher growth after government-led investment. Put an extra £100 in the pocket of the average working family and they will spend it the local economy. Put the equivalent total in the accounts of the richest and they will either move it offshore or buy assets to rent back to us at extortionate prices. As the patriotic millionaires remind us: inequality stifles growth.
    4
  146. To sell up to whom, and will the sold houses still be available for rent, or even purchase under a preferential mortgage?
    4
  147. George Monbiot wrote a paper on returning land to the commons. It won't happen but I find some logic and social justice in the argument. Property developers also engage in land banking because they can.
    4
  148. ​ @physiocrat7143 True. And with politicians afraid of their perceived reaction of nebulous "markets" we have the reverse: the lack of investment in state services and infrastructure
    4
  149. ​@JacksonFairweatherThe fact that it used solely for speculation and we need a regulated currency for trade?
    4
  150. Perhaps it's his obsession with Murdoch and the Tory client media. Blair had an unfortunate habit of obsessing over their reaction to his comnunications. If we really want to improve the country, do the opposite and upset the hard right loons, who would limit such opportunities to the privileged few. We are becoming more insular by the day.
    4
  151. You insight also gives the path to growth and national prosperity. Government is in the pocket of corporate interests.
    4
  152. If only votes mattered and counted equally in our elective dictatorship.
    3
  153. Anyone failing to listen to (or read) his words and apply fact-checking and critical thinking needs to engage a brain.
    3
  154. Do you listen regularly? Solutions are proposed regularly, as they were in this video.
    3
  155. Labour willingly accept a straight jacket and chains under the pretence of no money. They are doing nothing except begging for investment from profiteering companies and cutting rules designed to protect us. Invest in the infrastructure and tax wealth. Grow some cajones.
    3
  156. Unfortunately his "message" is articulating problems then offering no (or worse still fake) solutions. It's easier to be a disrupter; it chimes with the desperate and hard of thinking.
    3
  157. ​ @physiocrat7143 actually the exact opposite. Please learn how free trade works.
    3
  158. Spoken like a true troll hiding behind a pseudonym account.
    3
  159. ​ @skyblazeeterno And government can abuse that thinking by making it a false assumption.
    3
  160. So interested in your comment on neoliberalism. Time was always going to run out on the neat trick of getting the poor to vote for the rich to have more. An illusion can only last so long. Great video.
    3
  161. ​ @skyblazeeterno that's on income, not wealth, as explained in the video
    3
  162. Just more government symbolism. Being seen to offer big projects to grab headlines. Why must our politicians be seen to do something? Rarely the right thing. Never enough. Why not go for rhe simple and obvious things and do them well?
    3
  163. Perhaps employers are anticipating AI and treating new employees like robots. A good manager will accept that people are human and should not be expected to fit their stereotypes. Abilities are a separate matter but a mix of personality types is healthy in most organisations.
    3
  164. Great quote and so poignant.
    3
  165. I believe the key to be motivation. A good friend cooks amazing cuisine yet would not cook professionally because she would lose her passion. My approach to photography, as a retired hobbyist, allows the luxury of not equating time with money. Creativity requires freedom and self motivation. Financialisation constrains society for the greed of the few.
    3
  166. Very little optimism over Labour's economic plans. We have gone from the sociopathic (Tories) to the clueless.
    3
  167. The words "as ever" ignore the achievements of the last Labour government in health and education.
    3
  168.  @BAmalakas  no answer from the racist then?
    3
  169. That's an admission of defeat, as the market is rigged by financialisation
    3
  170. Reclaiming the State by Mitchell and Fazi
    3
  171. ​ @metallitech If you mean mentally bloated through arrogance, I have to agree. I have only heard vacuous sh1te from any of said Tory ministers.
    3
  172. Brilliant. That's real levelling up. Making this compulsive parliamentary viewing would call Johnson's bluff.
    3
  173. ​ @adenwellsmith6908 another of my replies failed to post. Are you against any form of state intervention after seeing the results of the last 14 years, the inevitable result of neoliberalism?
    3
  174. As Lord Hailsham once said, we suffer an elective dictatorship. The status quo is preserved by government being seen to do something; rarely the right thing; never enough. Tinkering at the edges when we need reform, to stop Reform getting in.
    3
  175. Then you have missed the point. World markets and inflation are always present and relevant
    3
  176. Read Liam Byrne's The Inequality of Wealth. (Just a clue...) There other Labour MPs in parliament
    3
  177. MPs are certainly paid enough imo. To the extent that second jobs should be banned. If they really do work for us, other sources of income or donations clearly risk a conflict of interest and should be banned. (With minor exceptions to maintain professional quakifications possibly allowed.)
    3
  178. Great explanation: clear and concise. I've often thought that we could easily solve the offshore, intellectual property dodge by taxing companies registered outside the UK on traded turnover, as the EU threatened with large tech companies. Would be interested in your informed opinion. Thanks for what you do.
    3
  179. Absolutely essential for real democracy, which, after all, means government by the people. Yes, that definition shows how far we are from actual democracy.
    3
  180. Why not? Perhaps the repercussions from the most powerful asset owners who would resist bonds, along with the oligarch client media. Labour should grow sone cajones and work in the national interest. In short, the new government should listen to you, Richard, and a few others, like Gary Stevenson and the patriotic millionaires.
    3
  181. Because most are tenants. Did you miss the point: landowners rather than farmers.
    3
  182. A clear and prescient analysis, as ever. The best description I read of Britain was a country that started on the road to democracy, went so far, then gave up. We live in an elective dictatorship, rather than a real democracy, and have ended up transitioning from the sociopathic to the manipulated incompetent. We desperately need PR.
    3
  183. Great video. Not being overly materialistic after a fairly well-paid career, I feel pity for those who are so insecure that a car or clothes give them some kind of status. What does that say about confidence and self-belief? What does it say about priorities? To me, enjoyment starts by making the best of our abilities, and the most of our possessions. Why not strive to continuously develop the content of our personality, as the great Dr Martin Luther King said in a different context?
    3
  184. Yes, we morphed from compassion to greed, heralded by Thatcher...there is no such thing as society. I see the stated aggression as control by the greediest and most sociopathic. Some such as President Moron, with his messiah complex, aspire to dictatorship.
    3
  185. Sounds like the ultimate in ethical savings. Why not?
    3
  186. Such a brilliant insight: well researched, thorough and poignant. Who would have thought that government defies accounting convention and regular maths for its own political ends? Who would have thought that government can't be bothered to keep its accounts up-to-date? Who would have expected such opacity and deliberate confusion to hide reality? We are led by charlatans. Being led by donkeys would be an improvement.
    3
  187. Starmer seems to work for the string-pullers and donors. He has the right chancellor to do that and consequently ends up with the wrong policies for the country
    3
  188. Yet he is in hock to Russian oligarchs. A bluffer with an oversized ego.
    3
  189. ​@Jethro-q6uWow! Advice from a pseudonym account. Don't think I'll take it since no justification is offered.
    3
  190. The words proof and pudding trash your argument, which is based on opposite dogma
    3
  191. If we get growth through financialisation, we get even greater inequality. Perversely, inequality stifles growth. Whereas extra money in the pay packets of the majority spent in the local economy means the benefits are shared.
    3
  192. That's the principle of blackmail. Who is leaving? And what are they taking with them? Just vague accusations and no answers. We can't tax the rich, blah, blah...pathetic!
    3
  193. Time for a new reserve currency. Especially if President Moron wins this battle.
    2
  194. Highly illuminating and interesting. In many respects financial capitalism supports neoliberalism, as rules have been abandoned to allow a free-for-all. Professor Bill Mitchell distinguishes between the Real Economy and.the financial markets that allow instruments such as futures and derivatives - the latter of which enabled the financial crash. In old economic textbooks money had three purposes: a means of exchange; a means of storing wealth; and a means of accounting. Financial capitalism gives money a life of its own and it becomes the ultimate instrument of control. We need regulation and control to reduce inequality. As you point out, the law enables this form of exploitation. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Your videos are inspirational.
    2
  195. Absolutely true. With politicians more intent on deflection and misdirection, using the minutiae of meaningless detail to achieve it. With an oligarch media manufacturing consent. With disengagement in politics, largely because of our elective dictatorship where votes are unequal. With corporate lobbyists and opaque think tanks pulling the strings of government while voters are placated or ignored. Our country regresses into a third world cesspit with despair winning over optimism. We need positive change.
    2
  196. Fiat currency having backing and a reliable promise to pay. Spot the difference?
    2
  197. Selling off water was nothing less than treason imo. Thatcher and her neoliberal agenda became a race to the bottom, as it persuaded the poor to vote for the rich to have more. Time to regain the state, but who is brave enough?
    2
  198. First, we need real democracy, fit governance and accountability. Also stop corporate political funding. Then, yes, in economic management we need a larger state. The state being there to prop up corporate failures is socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. The "free market" is rigged in reality.
    2
  199. The real threat imo is neoliberalism: the promise that the free market will fix everything. The neoliberals love to quote Adam Smith, who wrote his Wealth of Nations when economies were smaller and globalisation was a non-event. Most competition is now distorted (being unequal) and is further rigged by financialisation. The modern model exacerbates inequality with the lie of trickle-down. A means of persuading the poor to vote for the rich to have more. Richard does some great work and I enjoy his clarity of thought. A great video
    2
  200. Perhaps we will see a second reserve currency to scupper America's exclusive advantage.
    2
  201. How? You need to explain that bullshit
    2
  202. I believe it was Robert Kennedy who suggested that GDP measures everything except that which makes life worthwhile. It also estimates, rather than measures it, which makes the slogan of growth even more vacuous. Perhaps Starmer is in thrall to the private sector because of sponsorships and donations. Stop corporate and oligarch funding and this suspicion will be addressed.
    2
  203. ​ @NotMarkKnopfler why not read Richard's report before making uninformed assumptions.
    2
  204. How does it pose risks?
    2
  205. Not the only favour Putin can call in. Putin's oligarchs rescued some of Trump's hotels. Read Putin's People by Catherine Belton.
    2
  206. When it comes to defence, or war and conflict, we can't "trust the market". When we find an ally turning into a dictator, we must call them out as a bully. Trump says we must increase military spending. We should increase our tax on American companies trading here. Eg: Amazon gets off lightly; tax them on UK turnover.
    2
  207. We need PR, although I'm not sure that STV is the best system to ensure that seats are commensurate with votes. In any referendum we should concentrate on the core principle with a question such as: do you believe all votes should count equally in our voting system?
    2
  208. We live in an elective dictatorship, rather than a democracy. A parliament of lies, that can't be effectively called out. Dark think tanks, with influence bought and paid for. All propping up failed neoliberalism, as you say. The ultimate danger being that the fascists are calling out the failure and offering a false diagnosis and solutions that would reinforce neoliberal inequality. A frightening prospect with few offering hope.
    2
  209. Fiscal management matters in determining the exchange rate of the pound, which is about confidence. Spaffing money on faulty PPE was hardly likely to inspire confidence; investment in the public infrastructure and green solutions might well help.
    2
  210. The far right imo don't criticise neoliberalism so much as articulate the problems it creates and offer false solutions. Farage and co thrive on inequality and their egos would permit nothing less than being the entitled ones and the natual leaders of their distorted world. The left must uncover the lies of neoliberalism and offer a real alternative. We have two great people in Richard and Danny B. How can we work to support them? Perhaps get in front of our MPs...
    2
  211. Only within our productive capacity (of full employment) or we risk devaluation. There is also the question of how the money is used and its potential effect on inflation.
    2
  212. The dilemma is that we already have a dictatorship. It was aptly termed an elective dictatorship by Lord Hailsham. A system where votes don't count equally. Government that works for power and not for the people. We need fundamental reform to have a fair crack at democracy, instead of moving from one form of dictatorship to another, made obvious by a single figurehead.
    2
  213. No. Actually you are bright enough to disregard the crap. I'm sure you have qualities as a human being.
    2
  214. Absolutely agree. There is no such thing as unrepresentative democracy; it's simply undemocratic. (Democracy entails government by the people). After the Johnson campaign of lies, the number of seats in parliament were commensurate with the proportion of votes AGAINST the Tories. Hence, we had the exact opposite of what we voted for. Britain was aptly described as a country that started on the road to democracy, went so far, then gave up. This should be the first of Starmer's pledges: implementing a democratic voting system and cleaning up parliamentary standards. Get rid of our present elective dictatorship.
    2
  215. Which means, by logical definition, there is no centre. Perhaps a course in critical thinking will help you.
    2
  216. Trump is certainly in hock to Putin's oligarchs. Read Putin's People by Catherine Belton. I believe asset is a more accurate description, as assets often don't know how they are being used in many instances. It's too easy to use President Moron by appealing to his vanity.
    2
  217. If Starmer is playing a clever game to pacify Murdoch etc al... Great. But will that happen? Labour is also promising growth, yet inequality stifles growth. Put more money in the pockets of the lower paid and they will spend it in the local economy. Put it in the bank of the wealthiest and it will end up offshore or in buying new assets to rent to the rest of us at extortionate prices.
    2
  218. Listen to his rambling speeches and he seems narcissistic and deranged. The EU needs to speed up its approval processes because it affected one of his business projects. No grudges there from the narcissist. The danger is exacerbated by the sycophants around him, and the support of his pardoned thugs.
    2
  219. The dynamic duo of president moron and the man-child Bond villain Elon are beyond unhinged. Yet nevertheless dangerous.
    2
  220. Not the government. The payment of government "debt" is increased by the same high rate on bonds, influenced by the high int rate and quantitative tightening.
    2
  221. Yes, we need a mixed economy and there is such a thing as society. We need to redefine and rebalance then work together.
    2
  222. How?
    2
  223.  @BAmalakas  No. That was a suspicion, caused by your lack of explanation. Why not answer my original question? Are you a purveyor of soundbites?
    2
  224. I love pseudonym accounts spouting "wisdom" from on high.
    2
  225. How long has his cafe been open and who did he take over from?
    2
  226. ​ @adenwellsmith6908 Without state intervention we get neoliberalism. A scam to persuade the poor for the rich to have more. Why hate the state, assuming we had democracy it would work for the people. The free market works for the few and reduces standards for the extraction of profit. Which is why some intervention is needed.
    2
  227. ​ @Maugirl2 how has it gone too far?
    2
  228. Then surely the answer is simple: 1) create new money for targeted investment in infrastructure and services. 2) tax wealth.
    2
  229. The dollar is also the world's reserve currency so the dynamics are different.
    2
  230. ​ @adenwellsmith6908 That's not necessarily true, depending on how the newly created currency is used. If used for public infrastructure and services there is little or no inflation.
    2
  231. ​ @adenwellsmith6908 That's known as a con...the choice of the government
    2
  232. ​ @psiphon2808 Depends on the amount created, how it is used, and the productive capacity of the country (full employment).
    2
  233. Financial institutions have far too much power, and pay too little in tax. We are working for banks when they should work for society.
    2
  234.  @Leapops  that's because you may expect deflection, which you get all the time from politicians, when RM is giving examples of how fascism grows and affects us.
    2
  235. It seems that you have identified the only way we will get change. We need to build a mechanism from the ground floor upwards. Unions? Yes. But perhaps we need to get together and launch people's assemblies. Make Votes Matter is one such campaign we should build on.
    2
  236. Reform have no sound economic policies, harping back to something long gone and no longer achievable after Nixon ditched the gold standard and the world changed. Inevitably Reform apologists criticise QE, yet their "policies" would grind the majority into poverty. As you say, QE saved a potential disaster. The problem has been the aftermath, imposing austerity and causing most of the new money to end up with the richest, while banks were let off the hook instead of changing their operating structure. Reform are at least consistent: a cabal of charlatans appealing to the hard of thinking.
    2
  237.  @jim-es8qk  Why a written and codified constitution? Are you really asking that, seriously? As for reforming our elective dictatorship and the politically appointed house of lords? To deliver an effective democracy and qualified scrutiny.
    2
  238.  @jim-es8qk  I disagree. For whom? Promoting confusion and propping up an elective dictatorship through opacity. Perhaps you will come out from hiding behind your pseudonym account and develop beyond mono-sylables.
    2
  239.  @jim-es8qk  I don't exchange dialogue with pseudonym accounts. Your statements aren't substantiated.
    2
  240.  @janetrees2482  also get rid of titles. Our country is a sick joke.
    2
  241. Absolutely true. The demise started with Thatcher's declaration that there is no such thing as society. We have replaced it with greed and exploitation.
    2
  242. A phenomenal video. George Monbiot traced the history of neoliberalism to a meeting in Mont Pelerin, in 1947 (which I reiteraterated in a free ebook on neoliberalism). Neoliberalism was designed to exacerbate inequality by persuading the poor to vote for the rich to have more. A success for the few; a disaster for society. Please keep up your good work, Richard.
    2
  243. Look at recent history and you will know.
    2
  244. The timing adds to the irrelevance and stupidity of this announcement. With health and social services cut to the bone, where is the support to get more people earning or learning? With the introduction of AI, there will be fewer jobs and the work for pay economic model will become outdated. We will need redistribution to mitigate inequality and improve the quality of life. We will need new solutions, such as Universal Basic Income to make society work effectively. Resorting to the old right-wing tropes shows that Starmer's Labour has no long term solutions for the benefit of society.
    2
  245. Fine the water industry until they become worthless then take water into public ownership.
    2
  246. A reduction of 30% would need more than improved "efficiency" - which is often code for stripping quality or reducing service and increasing profits.
    2
  247. Relevance? There were better methods of funding.
    2
  248. This video has confirmed my worst fears. I suspected that Rachel Reeves did not have the right answers as a traditional ex-BofE economist. If Labour is determined to avoid rocking the boat, the cargo will be loaded more unevenly, through inequality, and the result won't be pretty - at least for most of us. Perhaps someone in Labour will listen to Gary Stevenson, Richard and other well-qualified experts and learn the simple lesson: INEQUALITY STIFLES GROWTH. We saw what an over-reliance on deregulated financial services did in 2008.
    2
  249. Which is exactly what politicians don't want. We would develop a bs detector.
    2
  250. We continually and consistently find that none of our procedures are fit for purpose. Not only parliamentary procedures, but in business where systems have been outgrown by globalisation. We now have monopolies undreamt of, with little or no attempt to control them, to accommodate the scam of neoliberalism. It's as though the world of commerce, services and trading has been designed for rogues and charlatans. The mythical "market" is an entitty that noone understands and noone may tamper with, while the rogues bend it to their will.
    2
  251. I believe that's true. The representative of the city even has a chair in parliament, behind the speaker's chair, according to an article by George Monbiot some years ago.
    2
  252. Couldn't agree more. The problem with signing up to neoliberalism and the lie of trickle down, in attempting to be a carbon copy of Blair and using his advisors, is that Murdoch and the oligarch media mob lead you by the nose. A further sign is that Leveson will also be shelved.
    2
  253. If this leads to a greater say for devolved countries and more autonomy for regions, then there is some point. That's a big IF, however, and I'm not holding my breath. Seems like a fudge.
    2
  254. ​ @kwakkers68 accurate on so many levels. 👍
    2
  255. More free advertising?
    2
  256. The obvious reason for politicians wittering on about the national debt is to scare us into believing it must be paid so we must suffer austerity. A political ploy exploited by the very party that has borrowed the most and paid back least: the Tories.
    2
  257. Absolutely true. Economic models fail to analyse distribution and the effect of inequality. We ignore the fact that it is stifling growth. Money in the hands of working people is spent in our domestic economy. Money in the accounts of the wealthiest is taken offshore or used for assets, to rent back at inflated prices. Meanwhile we are killing the planet through greed in the process.
    2
  258. ​ @adenwellsmith6908 You can't limit the route to real democracy and banning an elective dictatorship.
    2
  259. Neoliberalism is indeed at the root of our problems, yet noone is brave enough to dismantle it. It has created inequality by persuading the poor to vote for the rich to have more through the lie of trickle down. Its arch disciple declared that there was no such thing as society, when the very survival of our species has been achieved through cooperation and collective effort. The biggest single threat of climate change is best addressed by working together, which is why the oligarchs work to exacerbate it or deny it: they simply never have enough.
    2
  260. ​ @CurtOntheRadio Using the word "rubbish" then writing rubbish is not a great trait. All votes are not equal; elections are tampered with; the powers of the electoral commission have been weakened. No. The public does not elect the politicians. We live in an elective dictatorship.
    2
  261. I learned in degree-level stats to always question base assumptions. The so-called cost benefit for HS2 is a classic example of statistical sophistry. GERS is now exposed as yet another. There are lies, damned lies and statistics. Yet the lies are increased exponentially when politicians get involved.
    2
  262. Interesting that you should mention interest rates when this morning's news trumpets a fall in inflation to 1.7%, which is below the BofE's 2% target. Meanwhile mortgages and borrowing remain exorbitant. We work for the financial sector; it doesn't work for us.
    2
  263. Trump is a lunatic maverick but the danger is that he appeals to idiots, many of whom will buy his excuses and shift blame.
    2
  264. ​ @curryattack8985 Inflation is not a given...not as inevitable as you make out.
    2
  265. Apparently pfizer have spent more on share buybacks than on R&D recently. Big pharma and the profit motive are damaging to health and wellbeing.
    2
  266. Perhaps she wants a flat tax and a pay ratio, so execs can only earn, say, 40 times the lowest paid. Oops! I'm dreaming...lol
    2
  267. ​ @garyb455 More failed right wing dogma. Look at privatised services. Absolute bollocks without evidence.
    2
  268. You missed the key point: it's difficult and expensive BUT there is a better way to get the desired result.
    2
  269. Highly informative. Great video. The secrecy is chilling, borne of self interest and pure greed.
    2
  270. Surely that depends on what you do with it.
    2
  271. The centre is a nebulous concept that has been moving to the right since Thatcher. Why? Because neoliberalism has placed even more power and wealth in the hands of the few. We need parliamentary and electoral reform to stimulate voter engagement. Thus making room for conviction politics.
    2
  272. ​ @gpw203 Thomas Sowell was talking bollocks. Voting Reform would increase poverty for the majority , as Farage, Tice and co extract more for the richest (their own perceived class), dismantle the NHS and other state services, while repeating the lie of trickle down. The problem of mass inequality was started deliberately by Thatcher and her neoliberal fantasy. Anyone who has lived through these times would find it hard to dispute the fact that they have been better off under Labour, which has a far better economic record: having borrowed less and paid back more than the Tories since 1947.
    1
  273. Shock and panic were two relevant and poignant words in this explanation. It's as if our system was built for speculation by drama queens (or kings). I remember Ted Heath described the BofE attempting to control inflation by interest rates alone as being a akin to a golfer with just one club in their bag. How can we hope to control inflation without some form of price control? Yes, we suffer the effects of inflation if income (and capital) doesn't keep up with prices but inequality produces the greater detriment to growth and social prosperity.
    1
  274. How? And at what cost of admin?
    1
  275. Very true: hygiene and motivation factors as in Hertzberg's theory of motivation. Or the hierarchy of needs according to Maslow. Brings back the motivational theory I learned some decades ago. The short summary imo: There is such a thing as society, and greed is often a prohibiter of happiness rather than an enabler.
    1
  276. When launching neoliberalism in the UK, Thatcher declared that there is no such thing as society. Effectively replacing socialism with sociopathy. The lie of trickle down has made the majority poorer, while embedding competition on a rigged playing field. Neoliberalism is failing the majority, and is failing society.
    1
  277. Hardly surprising yet nevertheless highly informative. If only government would listen to you and other progressives, rather than McSweeney, business lobbyists and obscure (thoughtless) think tanks
    1
  278. And much of it disappeared under the Tories.
    1
  279. Clearly reasoned and well explained. Thanks for this level of enlightenment. It's hardly surprising that our government, in a faux democracy, supports tax havens . They are more concerned with the pursuit of power than perfect competition and deride the rule of law through cronyism.
    1
  280. Trump is the result of an unfit and undemocratic system being bought and manipulated. The lunatics are now in charge of the asylum.
    1
  281. So, your savings go. Business depends on banks. Your mortgage? Are you living in Cuckooland?
    1
  282. ​ @bensisko2443 It hasn't started. The wealthy pay a lower proportion of their income and assets in tax.
    1
  283. Labour came to power by promising very little other than being slightly less sh1t than the failed Tories. It seems they don't want to upset the oligarch media and their string-pullers, who throw money at them to be the party of business. Their lack of identity and clear vision will be their downfall, as you say. We could well end up with a fascistic crowd in charge, as we see more hatred and intolerance.
    1
  284. Are they making drugs for robots now?
    1
  285.  @alanhat5252  How, exactly? You really think this country works well? I can't see much that we have done well in the last decade in particular and imo we are FUBAR
    1
  286. The great Noam Chomsky explained how the media manufactures consent. Now, oligarchs just buy up publications and channels to spread propaganda under the pretence of free speech. Trump, on the other hand, just prohibits access to anyone who upsets his ego. The age of information also brings misinformation and disinformation. Never has critical thinking been more vital. Thankfully, Richard and others offer this regularly and consistently.
    1
  287. It hardly seems coincidental that CEOs of large companies work for the shareholders and many are, by nature, sociopathic. The old adage of the customer being king has given way to outsourcing customer service to automated call centres, to the point where it becomes an oxymoron.
    1
  288. A free-for-all, for the extraction of profit. A race to the bottom for workers rights and trading standards. Tufton Street: the home of insane sociopathy.
    1
  289. ​ @blahbleh5671 please stop the inane bullsh1t. It's vacuous in the extreme.
    1
  290. ​ @paullambert8183 Yet the immigrants are proven to contribute to the economy, so whose fault is it?
    1
  291. So true. We get growth and many kids stay in poverty? This Labour government is the most arse-about-face crew in our shambolic state. It seems the price of power is pandering to neoliberal values, for the benefit of the wealthiest. I'm sure that the average person with a pile of debt and struggling to bring up a family will be heartened by improved growth while they don't see a single benefit. Trickle down is an elaborate lie: designed to get the poor to vote for the rich to have even more.
    1
  292. Financialisation is also killing world prosperity and quality of life. Two of the largest conglomerates, Pfizer and Apple, now spend more on share buy-backs than on R&D. It seems that we work for the financial sector; it does not work for us. Land-banking is another external contributory factor, and should be prohibited.
    1
  293. I'm sure Richard also knows that, but he speaks in plain English.
    1
  294. Absolutely brilliant video. The country is controlled by bankers, acting in the interests of the 1%. Banking is no longer a service: we work for banks. I use the term "banks" to denote the financial "blob" that works in the interests of wealth, with politicians controlled through lobbying and effective bribery. The real driving force is greed, at the expense of society.
    1
  295. Further proof that state investment in infrastructure must lead, before industrial investment follows. Unfortunately Westminster has been wrecked by greedy idiots who thrive on short-term greed and are operationally incompetent.
    1
  296. Yes. We should accept that we have a mixed economy and find the best mix to solve the big issues mentioned in this video. The most destructive "ism" - neoliberalism - has created inequality by persuading the poor to vote for the rich to have more. We should focus on fixing inequality, then debate the dangers of the "ism".
    1
  297. Reeves, and the government she represents, apparently work in the interests of the city. Government should work in the interests of the country and use the city to service the required investment. The one chair behind the speaker's - unelected and appointed by the City of London - seems to have more power than all of our elected MPs. It is becoming all too clear who this government works for. Either we have gone from 14 years of incompetence to the dawn of clueleness or we have yet another puppet government, owned by the powerful.
    1
  298. I suspect that Kemi is more afraid of critical thinking than education per se.
    1
  299. I applaud and concur with this message. Having written a free ebook on the real miracle of neoliberalism, which was to persuade the poor to vote for the rich to have more, through the lie of trickle down. Markets are not mysterious entities that should be left untouched. They are rigged, largely because we don't have perfect competition. Society matters, and politicians must be brave enough to regulate for social good.
    1
  300. ​ @Turbogaggers123 Perhaps you should listen closer to these videos. The real problem stopping growth is inequality: the lie of neoliberalism. Persuading the poor to vote for the rich to have more. We now have an extractive economy where the wealthy extract rents and banks inflate interest rates to preserve the value of the assets that are being rented back to us.
    1
  301. ​ @loc4725 actually it has. We had record growth when taxation was at its highest. Check the fact.
    1
  302. More about neoliberalism causing the destruction
    1
  303. ​ @billB101 so you want a race to the bottom?
    1
  304. Absolutely agree. Labour will be fighting to clean up the mess while wearing handcuffs, unless they drop Tory fiscal rules and change the funding model. They are letting Hunt and his Tory psychos set their agenda.
    1
  305. That was explained in the video. The rate of inflation slows down. Otherwise it would need deflation to offset the increase. Inflation happens naturally in the global economy to oil growth in developing countries and through the imbalance of supply and demand.
    1
  306. Socialism has been replaced by sociopathy. Labour in competition to out-tory the Tories. Right wing propaganda sets the narrative.
    1
  307. ​ @goingpostal5858 Always the same blackmail. A few may, most won't.
    1
  308. The silence and misinformation are, most likely, deliberate to keep control. Perhaps some bribery? A proposed windfall tax on banks resulting in a threat to break the silence? Banks no longer provide a service to society imo.
    1
  309. It's equally instructive that two of the tools of fascism were used in the Brexit campaign: the identification of a (falsely perceived) common enemy and the disparaging of experts. Perhaps many will spot the trend with Farage and Tice in their obsession with immigration and their denouncement of climate change mitigation. They articulate problems and offer false hope while expanding the coffers of the rich and powerful. True fascistic scammers.
    1
  310. You blame QE then go back to 1923, before QE. What muddled thinking. Amazing how fascists and others with a distorted view of history go back to extolling German history.
    1
  311. Because the alternative has proved worse over the last 14 years and, in economic performance, since the war. It's called tactical voting in an elective dictatorship.
    1
  312. Couldn't agree more. Neoliberalism has done what was intended: exacerbated division to make the rich richer through the lie of trickle down. We need flow down to fix society; and need to put humanity over greed for the good of our mental health and happiness. Have a great Christmas.
    1
  313. Targeted investment stimulates growth. Yet somehow Labour ignores the first key word, to pander to their backers and lobbyists.
    1
  314. The neoliberal con trick: persuading the poor to vote for the rich to have more.
    1
  315.  @theelmonk  the key word is "proportional". There are a fixed number of seats in parliament, so they are assigned to each party by the proportion of votes. The Tories got the exact proportion of seats as the votes AGAINST them. Under PR they would have had 43.6% of the total seats (say 283 out 650) instead of an 80 seat majority. No more seats in total; just the correct proportion, commensurate with votes.
    1
  316. "Business acumen" is not the primary quality in government. It can even lead to exploitation.
    1
  317. ​ @fredfredrickson5436 Yes, perhaps they depend on said holes between the voter's ears.
    1
  318. And this morning the BBC joined in the propaganda for the richest. How much tax they pay - with no source declared and based on dodgy maths. What wasn't revealed is their total earnings and the proportion of tax paid. Here we go: if Labour tax us, we will leave. The brainwashing of the powerful knows no limits. Inevitably, my complaint is about to go in to the BBC. THANKS for your story, Richard.
    1
  319. I agree but resent the word "class". The classiest people imo are not the richest or most sociopathic, it's about the content of personality as the great Dr Martin Luther King said. Social class is a misnomer that holds us back.
    1
  320. Labour falling for the scam of financialisation, making the neoliberal "dream" a nightmare for society. Beyond disappointing.
    1
  321. ​@Commonsense-u1hYour name appears to be an oxymoron.
    1
  322. Journalists sometimes parrot press briefings because many financial reporter's jobs have gone. I've taken the BBC to task on their definition of debt and still they persist with their parroting.
    1
  323. Pure logic, acceptable to anyone with a sense of social justice. Compelling on economic grounds but regrettably not to our Tory government that deliberately increases inequality then justifies it by shifting blame. The latest increase in NI contributions are a primary example.
    1
  324. In a wider context this highlights the stupidity of the far right neoliberal dream of a small state at a time of climate breakdown. We need a fit democracy and a stronger state. There is such a thing as society and we have never needed it more.
    1
  325.  @andyinsuffolk  "Real money economies" meaning what? Which countries or a theoretical concept? Inflation (or deflation) is inevitable. Prices go up if costs are pushed in the global market or if supply and demand are out of equilibrium. The money supply is not the only issue.
    1
  326. Why should we be surprised at a nation obsessed with history at the expense of efficiency? Efficiency is for the little people, after paying enormous sums of money to business consultants who come up with wheezes such as PFI. Parliamentary procedures are equally archaic when lies can be repeated without the record being corrected. Government is broken and changes should start there.
    1
  327. Who is celebrating the words? Listening to and applying critical thinking is enough, and all too rare
    1
  328. Absolutely! So many politicians have resisted the advice to place less emphasis on testing and more on coaching and assessment, while employers back such rebalancing. The only "can do" attitude is ingrained at elite schools to teach a sense of entitlement, rather than a positive attitude to enhance abilities. I've been lucky enough to engage in music and photography as hobies, and rules are all-pervasive, especially in the latter. Liberation from such implied rules is fun.
    1
  329.  @Answersonapostcard  Just stop at nauseating. Woke is a word for the vacuous.
    1
  330. ​ @SlowhandGreg Being seen to something, rarely the right thing, never enough.
    1
  331. While we extol and reward the pursuit of personal interest and our systems of governance embed confrontation rather than cooperation, what hope have we?
    1
  332. Trump and Musk. Two sociopathic morons who use people as pawns in their mindless experiments and ruses. Musk is rich enough to test to destruction then buy sticking plasters to cover the wound. People's lives and wellbeing are more important than two egomaniacs intent on world domination and mass interference. Making America a laughing stock again.
    1
  333. Yes. But not enough. Staying in the ECHR, scrapping Rwanda, settling strikes were a good start. They then went full Tory.
    1
  334. We definitely need government to lead with targetted investment, because the private sector won't. Larger companies spend more on share buybacks than on R&D and use financialisation to extract more profit without increasing productivity. The neoliberal "free market" is a myth. The market is rigged and skewed by monopolies and the financial sector using dubious financial instruments at the expense of the real (productive) economy. Inequality is also killing growth.
    1
  335. Perfectly summarised. Neoliberalism sold the lie of trickle-down. Note the word "trickle-" rather than flow-down. Doesn't that sound like crumbs from the master's table? The whole agenda is designed to exacerbate inequality, and the Fasicsts will falsely shift blame to harm the people who are "stealing" the crumbs from your biscuit... the immigrants...the poor...the unemployed... Make no mistake, fascists serve the richest and fuel inequality. To them, it's the natural order of things and they would adore the words over Auswitz: arbeit macht frei (work sets us free). The recent Tory governments have been a warm-up act for the sociopaths who could follow.
    1
  336. The term think tank has become an oxymoron, since most operate as brainwashing cabals. We are fed whatever is best for profit, even if worse for health. State intervention is derided and outsourcing for profit extolled. Greed is not good; it is at the root of so many problems.
    1
  337. ​ @skyblazeeterno why? It's about proportions. The proportion of working people in the economy.
    1
  338. Not too sure about your last point but respect your opinion and your experience. It should be seriously investigated and discussed by both professionals and communities.
    1
  339. He, and his fellow populists, have a magic formula to appeal to idiots and the hard of thinking.
    1
  340. The dangerous morons are appealing to the desperate: Trump in America; Le Pen in France. They promise the earth and the moon, except you would be desperate enough to flee to the moon when they take the earth away after extracting everything for the wealthiest and most powerful. Here, thankfully, we have a poundshop version called Farage.
    1
  341.  @kevinnicholson7722  no
    1
  342. Truth hurts. So many comments shooting the messenger. Which of Biden's words are factually incorrect? The populist apologists depend on name-calling to discredit the messenger when they can't find any argument against the message. We suffer misinformation and disinformation on an industrial scale. Manufacturing consent for power based on blatant lies under the very lie of "free speech" on platforms using rigged algorithms.
    1
  343. Excellent explanation. It's more a question of political will: parties unfortunately believing that low taxation delivers votes and some even spinning that it stimulates growth. Total Fallacy. I also remember a chancellor depending solely on interest rates bring likened to a single-club golfer. The authors of MMT (Mitchell and Fazi) titled their work Reclaiming the State. Unfortunately neoliberals are opposed to that so they can run down state services to keep power in the hands of the 1%. MMT is the perfect vehicle to deliver social justice, but we need the political will to implement it.
    1
  344. One of the more infuriating customer experiences is dealing with outsourced call centres, often abroad. The classic example of business theory meeting practice in a collision.
    1
  345.  @BAmalakas  Which proves nothing. The two are not mutually exclusive. How does a religion fit the said definition? Just bile and bs. Waiting for an explanation.
    1
  346.  @BAmalakas  you picked one, which was also true of catholicism until relatively recently. So what? Fascism specifically relates to government and politics. Read the definition.
    1
  347.  @BAmalakas  To describe a religion as politics is trite. How does it fit said definition? You are being as evasive as Farage and Tice.
    1
  348. President Moron, masquerading as King Donald. He is some Canute.
    1
  349. Classic bs
    1
  350. Dr Julia Grace Patterson at Every Doctor is running a campaign, after consultation with medical professionals, to present an alternative strategy against privatisation. Streeting was always going this way after working with Milburn and taking money from private health companies. Never trust a red Tory.
    1
  351.  @abody499  I think a large proportion is based on a failing economy and hardship, where reality doesn't match the rhetoric of politicians and the excuses of the media. Perhaps you mean the same thing.
    1
  352.  @adenwellsmith6908  The first two are supposed to happen already, but we create a backlog to manufacture a problem. The last one needs measurement and would include family members. Also we need exceptions for genuine refugees. Rhetoric and symbolism without definition doesn't cut it. The fake solutions I referred to are economic: stripping out social and health services. Reform have no plans; just empty statements, and would reform us into a banana republic without the bananas.
    1
  353. The downside is you can't set your own interest rates or use QE to issue money for capital projects. You are dependent on EU fiscal policy
    1
  354.  @davidmcintyre8145  "collapse" is an overstatement with a fiat currency. Moving to the Euro is changing one set of austerity rules for another. Scotland would benefit from its own currency, to set its own interest rates and monetary policy. Worst case, the Euro as you say.
    1
  355.  @davidmcintyre8145  not sure how much of a say after the experience of Greece. The EU is a better option that "Global Britain" though.
    1
  356.  @davidmcintyre8145  agreed. But still the ideal is own currency, then Scotland can set interest rates and use QE, as the video explains.
    1
  357. There is even suspicion that Farage will join them as the new leader. The party of scum will undoubtedly get the leader they deserve.
    1
  358. Imo critical thinking is far more important.
    1
  359. ​ @JasonK-gt8tm which is pure sophistry manufactured by government. Had we paid into a private fund, that would NOT be the case. Don't let them get away with it. Under commercial arrangements that would be fraud.
    1
  360.  @garethwilliams4467  These companies owe society to compensate for their profiteering. The neoliberal model is a scam.
    1
  361.  @garethwilliams4467  My reply was deleted, so you don't get an answer to your irrelevant question...
    1
  362.  @garethwilliams4467  that's the most inane question, intent on deflection. The chancellor is going to the wrong people to fill the hole...go to the profiteering companies regulated by a toothless body.
    1
  363.  @garethwilliams4467  a good service at reasonable prices. You presumably applaud vulture capitalism.
    1
  364. ​ @dirtfarmstudio9829 Twaddle Without Any Thought
    1
  365. The last part is called sociopathy.
    1
  366. The Term "the national debt" is relevant only because of the method of accounting where we are in debt to ourselves. Brown didn't crash the economy: you have casino bankers using derivatives to thank for that. Please stop regurgitating Tory lies.
    1
  367. Great food for thought. We should develop and refine these arguments. Some of the comments below offer sensible building blocks. My own opinion is to be less prescriptive about the system of PR, with a choice of: Do you want a system where all votes count equally instead of a system where seats dont match votes and some votes are wasted? It would then be up to a citizens assembly guided by suitable expertise to decide on the system we adopt. (AV, the list, or a hybrid system)
    1
  368. Inequality stifles growth, which is one reason I believe it is necessary to tax wealth. Richard advocates taxing the income from wealth, such as investment income, at a similar rate to work income. His logic seems impeccable. If only Starmer and Reeves would listen...
    1
  369. The Tories wanted a dumbed-down, easily fooled and servile population. Does Labour? Can Labour really afford to embrace the fiscal plans of a government that thrived on austerity and the small state?
    1
  370. Do Starmer and Reeves want to know? Would they be in power if they did? Who pulls the strings of politicians who no longer work for society? Politicians should be consulting specialists like Richard before even mentioning the word "growth".
    1
  371. Starmer constrains government with a useless chancellor and restrictive economic policies. He is aftaid to listen to progressive economists and instead listens to fossils in the treasury.
    1
  372. Making America great again by destroying the economy and making it an international laughing stock.
    1
  373. We should soon know. Will it be in the King's Speech? Running government for the benefit of banks and financial institutions is nothing short of blackmail.
    1
  374. And with socialism in the form of bailouts when it goes wrong.
    1
  375. I find it hilarious that governments talk about productivity, yet the people who are paid most don't see physical money or do anything more productive than the equivalent of moving numbers around on a spreadsheet. Perhaps the modern economy was adapted by scammers for the benefit of rogues...
    1
  376. Another nail in the coffin of a country built for scammers. An elective dictatorship instead of a real democracy. A parliament that fails to expose lies by actively fact checking for truth, then correcting the record. Passive investment income taxed at a lower rate than work income. Wealth protected by complex tax laws backed by expensive accountants and lawyers. A media that manufactures consent so the rich can buy and own "truth". If only we had one political party with the cajones to make the country fit for society instead of patronising greed and rewarding sociopathy. Your videos play their part and our politicians should listen. If only...
    1
  377. The IMF is now projecting a forecast British growth of 1.6% - the highest in Europe. This estimate uses a measure that is largely estimated: GDP. If this small "growth" ends up in the bank accounts of the wealthiest, what good is that? Government should focus on what makes lives better.
    1
  378. Also in making underlying assumptions and understanding constraints. Process is a big word.
    1
  379.  @adenwellsmith6908  How would I know? Croydon is not a government that can produce its own money or change taxation policy. Government finance works differently.
    1
  380. Add the conundrum of measuring growth by GDP - a flawed estimate at best - and we see stupidity compounded. Quality of life and the reduction of inequality are more feasible goals.
    1
  381. I once read that Britain is a country that started on rhe road to democracy, went so far, then gave up. We now have a group of MPs that feed off our undemocratic electoral system by dancing to the tune of sponsors and string-pullers. Politics is most certainly broken, with fascistic scammers appealing to many disenfranchised voters.
    1
  382. Which leaves us with?
    1
  383. Inequality stifles growth. How will the government deliver growth with increasing inequality while depending on the lie of trickle down? If we put more money in the pockets of the lower paid, they spend it in the home economy. More money in the accounts of the richest is either moved offshore or spent on assets that they rent back to us at extortionate prices. Neoliberalism was always a lie to persuade the poor to vote for the rich to have more.
    1
  384. Growth, based on GDP, is fallacy bordering on stupidity. We need renewal, reinvestment and redistribution, backed by a larger state. Grow some cajones, Keir.
    1
  385. Also stifling growth; paying interest to banks as government creates new money penalises potential investment in state infrastructure. Meanwhile the Tories rewarded them by reducing the bank levy. Does the economy work for banks? Or do they work for the economy?
    1
  386. I have long held the view that we need a bottom-up management style, by engaging with people actively involved in the life experience under consideration. Consulting with workers on the ground floor; with the doctors and nurses running the NHS; with local people in making political decisions, etc. Top-down is so often an imposition of preconceptions by those in power.
    1
  387. Not so sure about an exam, as the job of politicians is to represent the people who vote for them. The dilemma is that the system supports them doing the exact opposite, in working for the interests of themselves or the few with wealth and power. We have an unfit electoral and parliamentary system and a self-regulated media. Better training in international trade and economics on induction would certainly be useful.
    1
  388. At least Reform are consistent. They have a policy for nothing and shallow rhetoric for everything.
    1
  389. President Moron: the great dictator sitting above the law in his narcissistic cesspit of a mind.
    1
  390. Probably too many politicians who don't want to be found out. Free markets, by fair means or foul. The Tory wet dream.
    1
  391. ​ @physiocrat7143 yes they have. Unfortunately not currently in power. Many progressive economists have solutions. Reform have just vacuous rhetoric.
    1
  392.  @jim-es8qk  "successful"?? That's delusional. The USA has a written constitution. We are on our arse after being scammed by politicians gaming an elective dictatorship. No point debating with a pseudonym account producing bald statements divorced from reality. Goodbye
    1
  393.  @jim-es8qk  Because not Al votes count equally and some are wasted. You may be talking to the wrong MP. Read what Lord Hailsham said about it
    1
  394.  @jim-es8qk  Strong government = elective dictatorship. Johnson got the exact proportion of seats as the votes AGAINST his party. Not only was that undemocratic, it allowed a disaster. Democracy requires consensus and cooperation, to mitigate mayhem.
    1
  395. ​ @antonyjh1234 really?!!! That depends on whether we invest in destruction or green solutions.
    1
  396. ​ @carlossaraiva8213 perhaps a rhetorical question.
    1
  397. All Putin had to do was criticise his treatment by previous presidents and Trump's hubris made him an asset for life. Arguing Putin's case, with this brainless and odious attack dog Vance demanding servility from Zalensky. There was only one president of substance in that room. He came from Ukraine.
    1
  398. Isn't it the city pushing for this? The government's reaction will be the test.
    1
  399. And house prices up, so people have less disposable income. Britain is FUBAR
    1
  400. Then where are the factual inaccuracies?
    1
  401. Politicians use tax and spend as an argument to screw people by imposing austerity. Making ourselves dependant on private investment, under the lie of neoliberalism, not only stifles growth but costs us more in the long run.
    1
  402. ​ @danielpye7738 please pay attention to the videos. The government has the sovereign right to create money through the BofE.
    1
  403. Wow! So poignant, professor. I could not agree more. If only we had real democracy with a government willing to engage with you.
    1
  404. Trying to outdo Deform UK on immigration is crass stupidity. The cabal that has never been in power can always say that they would do it better. The level of cluelessness in government is phenomenal. Are their brains surgically removed to inhabit Planet Westminster?
    1
  405. Neoliberalism was always a con: the dogma of trickle down getting the poor to vote for the rich to have more. There is no perfect competition, especially as it is now skewed by financialisation. Adam Smith's original work assumed a fair and free marketplace and equality of opportunity. Intervention is needed, at the right level for the benefit of society while encouraging and rewarding achievement.
    1
  406. ​ @pipster1891 words are surely enough, other than a retirement present.
    1
  407. That argument surely disregards how the money is used. The last round of QE, to avert the Truss crisis, etc. was left sloshing around in banks, then was largely taken up by housing developers in the private rental market and for land-banking to force up the price of housing. Supposing that extra money was invested in the infrastructure and social services? Not directly causing inflation.
    1
  408. Probably to illustrate our lack of democracy. Government rides the scam of our elective dictatorship.
    1
  409. ​ @chrisholmes9284 So because you don't believe anyone, will you give the blatant charlatans a chance? The privately educated establishment scammers who will somehow work for the ordinary people.
    1
  410. Short term productivity or outcomes? If we have better outcomes in health, national productivity improves because we get more people working to their physical and mental capabilities. Support services should be viewed differently by looking at the full context, as explained in this video.
    1
  411. ​ @bartholomewtott3812 that's exactly what is being proposed. A change of tax rates for fairness and consistency
    1
  412. Government does more than look after money. The exchequer, however, has overall control of state finances and largely dictates the amount of money available, through fiscal and taxation policy.
    1
  413. Show your workings. Absolute garbage.
    1
  414. Government buys the lie of worshipping the market: this mythical thing we have created and can't tamper with because we don't fully understand cause and effect. In parallel, government resists tampering with personal choices and uses the word freedom to justify any lack of intervention. Meanwhile we are viewed as greed-obsessed consumers and worker ants, or lazy buggers who are not working, by economists expert in mathematical models based on flawed assumptions. What a way to run an economy...
    1
  415. The best description I read of Britain was: a country that started on the road to democracy, went so far, then gave up. Votes are not equal, which makes a joke of democracy, and now we have money skewing opinion as people are too lazy or incapable of sorting fact from fiction. America is even worse: shamocracy on a larger scale.
    1
  416. Listen to the far right and you hear hatred and division through the shifting of blame and the identification of common enemies. Labour responds with technocratic half-measures to mitigate the campaign of bile. If only we had real democracy, with leaders who care for and serve society.
    1
  417. Trump is what you get through desperation. A narcissist promising the impossible to desperate people. Imposing tariffs while reducing inflation! Trump doesn't do maths and appeals to idiots.
    1
  418. President Moron: liar or imbecile? That is the question.
    1
  419. Let me disabuse anyone who believes that Streeting is for efficiency to benefit society. He is about a distorted view of financial "efficiency", which is a misnomer. You can achieve financial efficiency by reducing quality. Associate practitioners replacing GPs is a classic example.
    1
  420. ​ @CuriousCrow-mp4cx  Cheers. Nice to be back at school. Never stop learning is my motto. Lol
    1
  421. So glad you are speaking out in plain unequivocal terms, Richard. It seems that government has moved from the sociopathic to the clueless, bound by neoliberalism, dictated by wealth and power. Starmer does not work for the people. Sharon Graham and Mick Lynch speak for the workers, and for a responsible society, Starmer doesn't even understand the language. Disappointingly clueless.
    1
  422. Some homework for you. Read Liam Byrne's book: The Inequality of Wealth. There are solutions and people who understand them.
    1
  423.  @abody499  You have just used a circular argument to invalidate your claim. Of course the videos are linked: it's known by the literate as cause and effect.
    1
  424.  @abody499  Cause and effect is simple. It related to you seeing a common theme in the videos. There was a comment on greed, on the original video, whereas the video itself mentioned unhappiness to promote demand. Advertising to stimulate demand, to drive growth and fuel inequality. Cause and effect explained.
    1
  425.  @TechnikMeister2  and pay interest to banks at base rate? Why not tax wealth and really p1ss off Tory donors?
    1
  426. Taxing employment instead of wealth. That's how to kill growth.
    1
  427. At the time, I could see some sense in letting bankers control interest rates, but since it's the only tool used (rather than attempting to regulate prices) I have grave doubts. In reality, government uses the BofE as a foil, or as an excuse for the lie of tax and spend economics. Government should work for the people; not for banks.
    1
  428. Cutting education to increasingly dumb down the population is hardly coincidental. President Moron appeals to idiots and the stupid will always blame those outside their cult. Trump will fail, but how long will it take to unravel?
    1
  429. Perfectly sound economic analysis. Not called Scotland the brave for nothing. Get up and go. The idiots at Westminster need to perpetually wrap themselves in union flags while our trade deficit with the EU increases. And Johnson espouses belief in a fairy tale. Scotland should grab real opportunities.
    1
  430. I find it ironic that people turn to the ultimate establishment neoliberal - Farage - when the underlying cause of our failing economy is neoliberalism. The reason? Misdirection. Nigel falsely identifies immigration as the underlying cause so he can get richer. A true charlatan.
    1
  431. "Red tape" is a convenient label to an acolyte of free market neoliberalism, which was designed to exacerbate inequality - effectively through unregulated profiteering. Grenfell, the financial crash, crap in our water, dodgy concrete in public buildings. Does Keir need any more clues?
    1
  432. President Moron, the world dictator? Clear labelling of goods would enable us as consumers to boycott American products and produce. Just a thought...
    1
  433. Indeed. Which is why the mantra of growth is pathetic. More about making lives better.
    1
  434. "Red tape" is a convenient label to an acolyte of free market neoliberalism, which was designed to exacerbate inequality - effectively through unregulated profiteering. Grenfell, the financial crash, crap in our water, dodgy concrete in public buildings. Does Keir need any more clues?
    1
  435. The rot was epitomised by Cameron using the word efficiency to mean austerity. Austerity was (and is) inefficient by its very nature. Cutting costs means stifling investment and usually reducing service or quality. Centralisation also kills local service and economies of scale often mean reduced service. We need a larger state.
    1
  436. Which was the last front bench you approved of?
    1
  437. Neoliberalism is a race to the bottom for the majority, perpetuated through the myth of trickle down.
    1
  438. The Bank of England is effectively forcing us to work for banks, when banks should work for society. Unfortunately Starmer and Reeves are servants of rigged neoliberalism and do not work for the people.
    1
  439. Sounds like a wet dream to Steve Baker, who would love a small state transitioning to a non-existent state. The work for money model may no longer suffice in the long term as AI replaces working people. A rethink is needed.
    1
  440. What utter Twaddle. "Building a bank?" Really! Have you missed the number of empty bank buildings? There is such a thing as community and it adds to the quality of life. Our very survival as a species has depended on it.
    1
  441. ​ @drbalbon7332 A backward culture of morons?
    1
  442. Your point being?
    1
  443. We always get the same blackmail (about leaving the country) and this video explains hard facts. Unfortunately Reeves and Starmer seem to be led by the arguments of the richest and their think tanks, being extremely well organised. Our politicians are not strong enough to apply rational argument and critical thinking - they live on Planet Westminster. They do NOT work for the people.
    1
  444. Exposing the neoliberal con: exacerbating inequality by getting the poor to vote for the rich to have more through the lie of trickle-down. We need flow-down and drastic transformation to fix society. Some love the name Reform, who favour more extreme neoliberalism, bordering on fascism.
    1
  445. So true. Starmer is going for symbolism while financialisation is turning us into robots working for others to extract profit. Streeting is now talking about injecting people who are too obese to work. AI will mean fewer jobs and the work for money model won't suffice. Where is the quality of life?
    1
  446. The published example that the wealthy don't pay their fair share of tax, revealed the difference in tax rates as a proportion of total income between Starmer and Sunak. Guess who paid less as a proportion? The wealthier of the two.
    1
  447. So very true and highly relevant. I wouldn't have used fear as the descriptor but the rich and powerful certainly pull their strings. The current government needs a strategy and a message to replace neoliberalism and financialisation, as made clear in the video, yet we hear none. Politicians don't represent the people, unless voters have the power to influence their policies and to remove them. Our voting system is undemocratic, dark money and bribery are rife, with representation through opaque lobbying groups and dodgy think tanks. We need the opposite of Reform; we need real and fundamental reform of a broken system...clean up the mess before we become a third world country.
    1
  448. The equally concerning fact is that the perception of the centre continually moves right. We are assumed to take as gospel the inevitably of neoliberalism and the small state. As the few get richer, those who lapse into poverty are denounced as lazy or scroungers. We have lost the concept of society, as Thatcher originally wanted. Populism fuels and supports this trend. We risk rule by charlatans.
    1
  449. It's amazing that the very people who called the EU protectionist, don't apply the term to Trump's "America first" fiasco and his tariffs. Deep Seek is well named, for the reasons mentioned in this video.
    1
  450.  @pipobscure  Your opinion from an obscure pseudonym account is unsubstantiated, with no supporting facts, so isn't worth the electronic paper it's written on imo. Thank you...
    1
  451. I simply define it as economic stupidity and neoliberal sociopathy. Starmer has a luddite chancellor and should listen to the patriotic millionaires, along with Richard and Danny B.
    1
  452. "Democracy" is a sham and government is a scam. What a way to run a country.
    1
  453. Absolutely essential for the benefit of community. Hopefully the new government will listen to you and prove Thatcher wrong when she declared that there is no such thing as society. The very foundation of neoliberalism dogma: greed to fuel inequality.
    1
  454. Relevance?
    1
  455. Small state. Privatise all services. Cut tax. The neoliberal "heaven" that becomes Hell for all but the wealthiest. The lie of trickle down, designed to exacerbate inequality. Who has the cajones to reverse it?
    1
  456. So Scotland can't have another referendum after they were lied to in the first. Then that lie was debunked by a subsequent UK referendum with a campaign of lies while breaking electoral rules. An empire of lies sustained by a Parliament of lies.
    1
  457. Perhaps "idealogues like Richard" are helping people question the effect of consumerism on the planet, and the benefit of resisting peer pressure. Your suggestion of a sinister motive is personal assumption.
    1
  458. Chilling and accurate. Labour has become just another neoliberal party. They could persuade me otherwise by effectively taxing wealth and mitigating inequality, to encourage growth, but I'm not holding my breath!
    1
  459. ​ @DrinkPetrolForJesus I actually embrace that argument, because equal balance to Greens and Lib Dems would stop the idiots running amok. We also need to expose the views of the extreme voices through parliamentary debate, so they don't fester and morph into populism for consumption by idiots.
    1
  460. Extolling "the market" and denouncing society. The two characteristics of neoliberalism that lead to unhappiness and stress. Thatcher's "there is no such thing as society" and Wall Street's "greed is good" lead to inequality and fuel mental ill-health. Who is brave enough to change this?
    1
  461.  @WarrenPeaceOG  sense at last. Absolutely agree. The market isn't a panacea. It's often gross stupidity.
    1
  462. The land of the free where the president is above the law? There is a name for that: it's called a dictatorship.
    1
  463. Anything that impacts the greed of a Tory is to be resisted or denied. Kemi pretends to be an engineer yet ignores or denies science. She is probably aligning with Trump.
    1
  464. Our system is working as intended: as an elective dictatorship rather than a real democracy.
    1
  465. Bankers or politicians putting money over human rights? Surely not. Lol.
    1
  466. And this morning he has announced a 30 day pause in the tariffs. His story is that the neighbouring three countries have agreed to cooperate on border controls, etc. President Moron is so unstable, his empty head could implode.
    1
  467. It takes an infantile and naive population to believe that because Musk is the richest man in the world he can magically reduce government spending while making the population better off. Trump is a bullsh1tting maverick and Musk has no experience of managing government infrastructure, which is vastly different from commercial business.
    1
  468. The government has reintroduced Freeports out of desperation after the disaster of brexit. We tried them before, then banned them when they became a haven for smuggling and abuse. The pretence of free trade is an illusion, as it is skewed by powerful international corporations setting the rules to stifle competition. The shady land deals to commission a Freeport in the north east are hardly an auspicious start. The whiff of corruption is never far away.
    1
  469. While we see the expansion of Rolls Royce, to cater for the bespoke whims of the ultra rich, and the decline in the majority of the real economy, therein lies a clue. Inequality stifles growth.
    1
  470. My only concern is that the far right will sell a more extreme version of this mantra. Their strategy is to compound the lie and use misdirection. 1) Brexit hasn't happened or it's been done badly. When in reality it was a stupid idea. 2) It's all the fault of the immigrants and not the vulture capitalists who will extract the last penny of profit while you starve and the world fries. We need to rediscover society and build a better and more humane story.
    1
  471. ​ @darthkek1953 Bullsh1t, bullsh1t and more bullsh1t. You clearly don't understand economics or history, when the Tories have borrowed more and paid back less than Labour per average year in power. Where is this "left wing government" you fantasise about? Starmer is not left wing.
    1
  472. ​ @sullivanrachael show your workings
    1
  473. ​ @antonyjh1234 Thank heavens that human beings are more than economic entities and economics is supposed to help society.
    1
  474. ​ @darthkek1953 show your workings, from your pseudonym account.
    1
  475. Achieved and prolonged by neoliberalism. Persuading the poor to vote for the rich to have more.
    1
  476. ​ @ChDa-1971 Except the "protection" will cost every American, as prices increase because of tariffs. Who will be able to cope? Just the richest.
    1
  477. I like your explanation of MMT. The reality is that tax and spend is used as an excuse to impose austerity. The old Tory (and neoliberal) trick never dies so they maintain inequality.
    1