Comments by "Mark Welch" (@markwelch3564) on "Richard J Murphy" channel.

  1. Some will abandon him, but I fear many won't. They've committed too much of their pride to the cause They'll keep telling themselves "it just needs a bit more time" 🙁
    242
  2. Sadly, I think the world is full of von Hindenburgs, and too many of the world's leaders will think they can "manage" Trump Scary times 🙁
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  3. I reckon Reeves did ask the question "who should Labour tax" - and her new donor chums said "everyone but us"
    84
  4. If historical precedent tells us anything, the threat isn't AI, the threat is idiot management buying into too much of the hype This isn't the first time that overly excitable tech journalists and investors have pushed a "magic bullet" AI tech breakthrough!
    51
  5. Yup. Privatise the profits, nationalise the costs 🙁
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  6. Heard a joke that's broadly related to the topic here How many Reform voters does it take to change a lightbulb? None - Nigel just tells them the bulb is changed, and they sit in the dark and applaud
    40
  7. It's Shock Doctrine time 🙁 The USA is going to get the rough end of "may you live in interesting times"
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  8. "Why does Starmer want growth? I genuinely don't know" I don't think he knows, either
    34
  9. It's not just if you care, it's who you care for And the big two parties both take care of the same narrow group
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  10. Often all three...
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  11. I would rather see the governmnent issue bonds than sign PFI deals!
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  12. I am increasingly worried that Rachel "private sector growth" Reeves is just a slow-burn version of the crash-and-burn Liz "private sector growth" Truss Same focus, same end result, just at a less dramatic pace
    26
  13. The most delicious thing about Taylor Swift specifically, rather than the wider point, is that Trump was desperate to drag Swift into the political campaign He needs to be careful what he wishes for!
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  14. This is the best argument for state funded research and development. Prioritise effective solutions over rent-seeking solutions!
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  15.  @unatwomey7112  I don't want an independent media, I want a very dependent and accountable media that answers to ordinary people, and not billionaires That's subtly different to independent 🙂
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  16. 10 to 20 minutes seems to be the sweet spot for factual channels, based on the channels I follow. Enough time for some depth without being a large time commitment
    21
  17. Even "the interests of working people" is a bit of a lie. He's looking after the interests of bosses who want people to go to work, not the welfare of the workers themselves
    18
  18. ​ @william_marshal they are avoiding taxing the rich - it's in the video This will hit medium sized businesses. Shareholders of massive companies will be fine
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  19. Labour's current story is "everything sucks, and we aren't planning to change it" 🙁
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  20. ​ @Turbogaggers123  we spend our money, and we then have assets. I see no problem with this plan
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  21. ​ @imagecollections6665 they are also landlords and bankers, no change there
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  22. Of the cuts, cutting out consultancies is 100% a good thing 🙂 The rest of the austerity is awful though 🙁
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  23. But not quickly enough. The smart plan is to build up domestic production, then use tariffs to protect the growing industry when it's established but not secure Tariffs first is back to front
    13
  24. @pastyman001  I am curious about which of Corbyns policies your centre-left friends were against?
    12
  25. The geopolitics is very different now. In the past, America pushed their luck a little with their allies, and those allies weren't entirely happy, but it wasn't worth making a fuss Trump is going way beyond that line, and the reaction is not going to be so tolerant any more!
    12
  26. And the animals looked from Blairite to One Nation Tory, and from One Nation Tory to Blairite...
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  27.  @JasonK-gt8tm  we've had 40 years of selling off assets and narrowing our economy. Everyone is going to be squeezed by that 🙁
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  28. Tax is small fry compared to rent!
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  29. Even if Reeves goes, is there anyone in Starmer's circle who will act any different? It will just be a change in figurehead, not a change in policy
    10
  30. I've not seen any increase in productivity there, just wealth consolidation
    9
  31. How's the price of those eggs going?
    9
  32. They aren't offering champagne or socialism, so that makes no sense!
    8
  33. "What's the worst that can happen?" is a question best answered before you push the button
    8
  34. We could tax billionaires. Why tolerate people who are the first to claim the best perks and benefits of society, but are the last to reach into their pockets when it comes to paying the bills that keep society running?
    8
  35. ​@BillDavies-ej6ye unfortunately, while Labour aren't self-serving and corrupt, they are listening to the same donors and implementing the same policies 🙁
    8
  36. Are we living on the same planet? Right wing government has failed on every category you list
    8
  37. but what have the right done with this knowledge, in all this time that you've known?
    8
  38. I suspect the reason politicians like it is it both sounds really formal and substantial, while also being incredibly easy to manipulate to suit their narrative "We made the impressive sounding number go up!" (by manipulating what does and does not count towards the figure)
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  39. Reform has more MPs than members, and all of those members are shareholders who get rich when wages stay low Are they really going to change things?
    7
  40.  @physiocrat7143  just checked, can't see the EU torching it's own supply chains with macho posturing You'll have to explain that equivalence to me please!
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  41. That could be counterproductive. If it's easy to go, it's easy to come back Make it hard, and people will still go, but they have to invest more effort. All that sunk cost makes it more likely to be permanent
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  42. Not Brown - Osborne Hard to believe, but Osborne has given Reeves a glowing endorsement!
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  43. So you don't know the difference between commercial banks, and the central bank, yet you're claiming Murphy is clueless That's kinda tragic
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  44. ​ @A-se2ur contrived gotcha is contrived
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  45. Yet people still wonder why I am voting Green rather than joining in with tactical voting I know they won't win my constituency, but if everyone waits for a change, nobody will change anything. I am helping grow the Green vote so we have an alternative to PFI and subcontracting!
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  46.  @physiocrat7143  that's like saying "Russia has an army, and Poland has an army, so they are the same" How you use them is a very important context
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  47. ​ @garyweston3269 it's not envy, it's self defence
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  48. I think the secondary point casually dropped in is a good one - even if you're not a Marxist, intelligent people engage with the ideas, not demonise an entire school of thought blindly More people should be like this 🙂
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  49. Cheaper eggs, right? 🙄
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  50. ​ @alecdurbaville6355 reality is to the left of most current politicians. Shouldn't teachers be teaching what's real?
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  51. You're far more sophisticated than I am. I call them crap because they are crap!
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  52. This is a side effect of FPTP. When establishing a new party is really difficult, it's inevitable that many politically driven people will look to join an existing party and try to steer them towards their goal Countries with representative electoral systems see a lot less of this sort of thing 🙂
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  53. @ster2600  that's necessary and welcome, but where's the infrastructure investment? We've gone from hard austerity, to austerity lite. It's an improvement from where we were, but it's still short of what's needed to turn things around
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  54. A model that mitigates risks at rhe start, in return for a share of the success from the winners makes a lot of sense to me
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  55. That depends entirely on where the easing goes If it goes to already rich people, so they can buy even more houses, then it will be terrible Spend it on infrastructure and it will be great for ordinary people
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  56. Journalism and analysis is important - we need people making policy, and we need people holding the policy makers to account I think Richard Murphy is good at holding them to account, and hope he continues 🙂
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  57. If it was all about profit, and social use was discredited, we'd all be dealing drugs But in reality, social use is actually rather important!
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  58. also, tax is a better way to balance a universal benefit. Then you only need one department processing it, keeping things simple, and greatly reducing the chance of someone falling into a gap in the middle
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  59.  @imbonkers3629  because a lot of those people on benefits already have a job - it's just so rubbish that they need benefits as well as work to cover the basics That's how broken work is right now 🙁
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  60. ​ @JupiterThunder self awareness fail, there!
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  61. Yep! Vote Green, tax billionaires and invest in UK infrastructure 🙂
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  62. @JB_inks  do you have any good links? The vibe from the coalface is that it's an interesting academic curiosity, but practical applications are wildly overhyped. I am very interested to see informed counterpoints 🙂
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  63. "Don't let me shoot myself in the foot" isn't the strong position he claims it is
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  64. From my understanding, even there it's more of a money laundering mechanism to hide the real currency involved, rather than a market primarily using crypto as it's foundation
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  65. Your numbers are broadly correct, but everything else is rubbish
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  66. Roosevelt's new deal
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  67. Holding back? They rolled out the red carpet to welcome them!
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  68. Wonder which one of Wes' donor mates suggested that idea?
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  69. I am happy to call that bluff. Allowing entitled endulgence for a few hasn't worked well over the last 40 years. Let's try doing the opposite 🙂
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  70. I thought democracy put more weight on a vote this year, than on a vote from almost a decade in the past... If he keeps listening to the past more than the present, I don't rate his chances much next election
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  71. We have carbon capture and storage technology - they're called trees However, there's not much opportunity to extract big shareholder dividends when planting trees...
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  72. But "use the private sector to bring down waiting lists" is enough nonsense to undermine the whole plan There is no spare capacity sat idle in the private sector, so either this is unresearched, or Wes is funding an expansion of the private sector I don't want an unresearched plan, and if we have money to expand capacity, we should so so within the NHS!
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  73. So if the buying power of gold has increased, and most of the gold is overseas, the gold standard moves economic power overseas Not sure that helps the UK much!
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  74. ​@dazecm this - asset stripping is prioritising very short term profit by breaking a company and having a fire sale with the valuable bits over a steady, long-term viability
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  75. Melei is only described as "doing a good job" when Melei marks his own homework
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  76. ​ @lestrem11 people keep getting ill. Who knew?
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  77. ​ @martinsingfield but without unions, you have an unopposed monopsony, which is also bad
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  78.  @loc4725  sure, deficit spending to invest, and taxes on the wealthy has never worked, as long as you ignore things like the American New Deal, that did exactly that, and it worked...
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  79. Do NOT give them ideas! Their sarcasm detectors are infamously broken
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  80.  @Hardcore_Remixer  you know what really kills risk taking and endeavour? Having to work 50 or 60 hour weeks just to cover the bills Strong social safety nets are the best way to encourage innovation. Look at the eras of peak innovation - they were all eras of prosperity where the vast majority of people felt secure Meanwhile, insecurity will result in stagnation or even decline. The pattern from history is clear
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  81. That's not the Starmer and Reeves I can see. They're doing the same free-market dogma as the Tories, but mildly reining in the worst of the rampant extraction and exploitation
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  82. They love those flags so much, but you can't eat a flag!
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  83. To be fair, politics is stagnant and unimaginative currently
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  84. ​ @inguzwulf the really short answer is our journalists are the worst How can ordinary people hold power to account if the journalists (who should be our eyes and ears) can't tell us what is going on?
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  85. Workhouses would mean you get paid less - you're competing for work with people paid nothing but the food they eat
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  86. ​@loc4725 there's something in common between Stalin style dictatorship and corporate multinationals - vast power in the hands of a small number of people Overcentralisation is the issue, whether done by authoritarian coup or corporate buyout
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  87. @marcopolotimetraveller  gold is an unreactive metal with good electrical conductivity. It is one of the most malleable and ductile of metals It's market value is a curious and persistent bubble, but ultimately just as irrational as crypto
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  88. It's almost like you didn't watch the video before commenting 🤔
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  89.  @sanshuma0  if people vote for arson, arson they shall get Accountability works both ways. The government needs to be answerable to the people, and people need to take responsibility if problems are caused by a government doing what the people voted for Because what is the alternative? If an independent authority doesn't answer to the people, who do they answer to?
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  90.  @johanlantz1474  I'm not a fan of this. With no central anchor, your currency swings wildly at the whim of speculators with enough assets to run pump and dump schemes It's not a fun foundation for your finances!
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  91. Wierd that you targeted Milliband, when Starmer and Streeting are right there to highlight first...
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  92.  @terryboland3816  apologies, this is the level we're going to be at. Talking economics with you is pointless 🙁
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  93.  @OneAndOnlyMe  I hope manage means counter, rather than appeasement!
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  94. ​@davidknowles1219 what investments? They aren't investing anywhere useful, so what would we lose if they go?
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  95. and what they have changed into is another Tory party
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  96. ​ @zetectic7968 it was a bad idea then, and it's still a bad idea now!
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  97. ​@stephfoxwell4620 thing is, people keep retiring, and we have less people being born than retire If you don't want immigration, which jobs do you want to leave unfilled as people retire?
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  98.  @azillliasmith2734  from babies born 66 years ago?
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  99. There's no cheap fossil fuels left in the UK - all the easy fields are dry, and what's left is awkward and expensive
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  100. this, and "but the private sector does have money - let's give everything to them" 🤬
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  101. ​@mrradman2986 population expansion was inevitable, because of all the old people. Government should have been planning for this, rather than kicking the can down the road and hoping someone else would solve it!
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  102. This has upsides - if money loses value, you don't want to stockpile it - you have to use it and keep it active. It discourages Smaug piles
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  103. Farage works for multinational capital too 🙄
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  104. ​ @JupiterThunder but we won't be paying for healthcare - as much money as possible will go to new superyachts, not medicine
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  105. but everyone has an ideology. Were you maybe thinking of dogmatism?
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  106.  @davidcooks2379  I agree with the first bit, but I'm u comfortable with the second. What do people do if they're disabled, or if there is no work right now?
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  107. There's also a strong link between stress and ill heath. That negative sounds more likely than any benefit, given the state of the job market and our transport infrastructure right now
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  108. @ster2600  cancelling nonsense projects isn't austerity. Cancelling the necessary ones, like repairing hospitals, and the productive ones, like transport infrastructure - that is austerity
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  109. Lol?
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  110. Is there an uninhabited island we can use as a "charter city", send Tufton St there, and let them go nuts? They get to implement their wild ideas, and nobody else gets dragged into it. Win for everyone!
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  111. @user-rb3jw7yj9o  it probably does count, although the exploitation is limited by being a small zone in a massive city If people don't like jobs there, they can leave and find a similar job outside the zone, with little or no difference to their commute If a charter took over Sheffield, for example, the effort required to escape the charter would be far higher 🙁
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  112. China disagrees with your assessment, and as a result China is gaining a lot of allies around the world Funny how that works!
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  113.  @adenwellsmith6908  why don't people who don't want to contribute to the society they live in do the honorable thing and leave?
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  114.  @household6098  the EU and America can settle their disagreements without bombing Ukrainian towns. It's a shame Putin can't manage the same
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  115. Only if you give it to people who already have money, as then they will use the extra capital to outbid others for assets, pushing prices up Use the new money on infrastructure investment, and the money doesn't affect existing asset prices. If it does, it brings asset prices down - for example, if you use the money to build houses, you increase the supply which makes housing less scarce How you use new money makes a big difference. Trussonomics will cause instability, but infrastructure investment won't
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  116.  @martinspencer1618  so if there are no immigrants and you don't need immigrants, why do you have an issue with immigration to regions that do need the workers?
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  117. ​@EvoraGT430 when her project is no longer part of our day-to-day life
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  118. As a northerner in London I totally get this. It's daft whichever side you look at it from!
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  119. Old people are expensive. They've been talking about our aging population for decades, but didn't do anything to prepare for it...
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  120. Not all attention is good for narcissists We need to ask questions like "will President Musk give trump permission to invade Scotland"
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  121. Chona has been looking to push the dollar out of the oil market for awhile now If they're going to do so, it has to be soon - there won't be a better opportunity than this current US chaos
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  122. Government needs to be transparent and accountable. That's what's needed, and you can do that without shrinking the state and privatising everything!
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  123. Without being too graphic, it's true that the bacteria levels aren't an issue, but anything lumpy would be a hazard to reliable cooling
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  124. I can tell it's a long time since you've been exposed to the private rental market - maybe you've never lived in a private rental at all
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  125.  @adenwellsmith6908  consent is a good principle, but nuanced. For things like taxes, I am happy for it to be implied concent rather than explicit
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  126. Even if you take the most cynical view of human nature, self-serving politicians will do good for the people if they are dependent on grassroots support rather than big donations Don't vote for politicians who are dependent on big donors!
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  127. The main challenge is "people getting old", and that's unavoidable
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  128. ​ @OneAndOnlyMe more effective for who, though?
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  129. Economically, it's still a useful spectrum. There's too much ambiguity and confusion outside of economics for left and right to be useful terms though
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  130. and even by it's own standards, it's nonsense If a household needs something big, like a car, they use credit rather than not take that well paying job that needs a car!
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  131. Getting Torsten Bell into a more senior position would be a decent idea, if the rest of the party don't straitjacket him into being more of the same
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  132. There's no evidence that there's more people on the spectrum, were just getting better at recognising them
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  133. Pattern recognition in images is really good now - there's definitely a role for specialised, narrow AI in that kind of area The more broad magic-bullet AI Streeting seems to be implying is not so grand, though...
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  134.  @paulyflyer8154  well, I'd rather we have more people who love the country enough to literally cross seas to get here, and less of the entitled mingefarts who expect silver spoons just cos they talk posh!
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  135.  @adenwellsmith6908  again, that's a bad business problem, and the problem is still the same problem no matter where the workers are born Blaming migrants is scapegoating, and distracting from incompetent businesses
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  136. ​ @RobinHarris-nf4yv we can look at which way they are travelling though, and so far it seems to be continuing down the same paths, but now walking in a "grown-up" way
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  137.  @terryboland3816  and you probably shouldn't eat those mushrooms for breakfast
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  138. Is it even good economics? There's a strong chance history will look back and tally that the beurocracy and externalities cost more than the savings Given that "externalities" in this case is "people going to hospital with serious illness" it's also morally grim
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  139. It gives the country opportunities to prosper, and that's a rising tide that can benefit everyone, with a suitable government No nation has been successful by being insular, and the only possible exceptions are countries large enough to almost be a continent by themselves. Even then, they do better with international links than by being isolationist
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  140.  @swaggery  it's a big stick, but it's not bigger than everyone else's put together
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  141. Taxes do - if you need to pay tax, then the currency you need to pay those taxes has value
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  142. It's not where people live, it's what they own. Will people sell up to avoid taxes? If the people who own (abuse?) the water companies want to quit holding those assets, that's fine by me!
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  143. ​ @stanleyshannon4408  oh, the violence! What was it? Did someone politely ask you to act with a bit of dignity and respect? How shocking 🙄
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  144.  @zippy_uk1046  you misunderstand - social use isn't a number at all But it's like "health" - you can't count it, but it's important
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  145. Inflation is exactly the key here - if Trump does what he's talking about, inflation in the USA is going to rocket, especially if BRICS decide it is time to try and dislodge the Dollar as the prime international reserve currency
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  146. ​ @stephfoxwell4620  I would rather have a Muslim neighbour than someone from the "legitimate" concerns crowd
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  147.  @lestrem11  there's a reason I vote Green 🙂
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  148. @countryman5329  which party is that? All I see is various rich private school types with different coloured rosettes
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  149.  @duggdog9102  no, we fiscally expand to build infrastructure - that improves the economy, and gives us money to clear debts We can also tax billionaires to ease the public finances. The promise was we let them get rich, and then they invest and it trickles down. That hasn't worked, so let's try taxing them instead
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  150. I'll be fair and flexible. I'll let them round up the estimate of my worth if we can round their estimate up too!
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  151. ​ @MacroWithDom so how did Trussonomics do when tested in reality?
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  152. Yes, like that - but even more so
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  153. ​@keithparker1346 it's not over with Wes, but it makes a great first step 😁
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  154.  @keithparker1346  and hopefully serves as an inspiration for other seats too!
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  155.  @sfgoddard  negative inflation is really bad - it means existing money goes even further It lets the already rich become even more powerful without any effort on their part
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  156. Carbon capture and storage in action, no? It's the book burners who are adding to the carbon problem!
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  157. ​ @martineyles still an improvement on the current situation, where they can only spend what Westmister allows them to tax
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  158. I would!
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  159.  @JupiterThunder  👋
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  160. Not lost, but it was definitely a big setback 🙁
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  161.  @StaggerLee1468  it can be challenging, but it's the first step of opposition 🙂
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  162. ​ @JupiterThunder that's exactly what they are doing
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  163.  @MartynThomas1  do you think the Starbucks board and shareholders will absorb the difference, or Starbucks staff and/or customers?
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  164.  @stephfoxwell4620  is this a parody comment?
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  165. @organismseven3700  so what Green policy would you consider to be Marxist?
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  166. Starmer and Reeves have a quite Thatcherite aversion to applying taxes 🤔
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  167. Truth is, landlords will spin anything into a justification for higher rent 🙄
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  168.  @SyrianArrow  there's no thinking or agency yet, even if it does seem like it, especially in short-form examples from LLMs They are only as smart as their training data though, as they're just remixing the source material. Sometimes the sampling gets very confused, and they aren't even as smart as their source material Anything needing actual agency or problem solving is still far beyond them
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  169. @martinsingfield  and doing so is disruptive for both the individual and the company Wouldn't it be so much better to negotiate a settlement and avoid that disruption?
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  170. They knew austerity is unpopular, so they relabeled it and called it "fiscal discipline" instead...
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  171. So which public service do you want to close down?
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  172.  @parrotshootist3004  but Ukraine is a sunk cost that has to be paid, as not paying it is even worse We have an alternative to AI. I am all for research and academic progress, but trying to commercialise LLMs feels either premature, or an active con
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  173. @skyblazeeterno  will that agreement involve Putin owning a big chunk of Europe's most productive farmland?
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  174. I don't know if Corbyn should join them, he seems to be doing well where he is but some kind of electoral coalition, like the NFP in France, makes a lot of sense!
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  175.  @TheOriginalDaveJ  for fair taxes that will fund our public services, for starters 🙂
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  176.  @RichardEnglander  prices go up if you have more money budding for the same assets If you create assets with the money, you're creating assets in balance with new money This assumes that tax policy is also being used as a balance to prevent inflationary bidding behaviour on existing assets
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  177. Yeah you can - do the unglamorous jobs yourself I've been there and done that, so I am happy to have more hands on,and don't care what colour they are
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  178. It is a perfect plan, with one caveat - you need to make sure you find the perfect dictator...
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  179. Something radical? Wealth taxes 🙂
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  180. Are these the same clever people that gave us Liz Truss?
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  181. There's an argument he could have done more to reduce our exposure, but he couldn't have prevented it - only American policy could do that
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  182. We used to be rule makers, and now we aren't. Thanks, Brexit!
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  183. ​ @SBuk1  uno reverse - you're the fake, prove us wrong
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  184.  @alexdavis1541  my reply appears to have been eaten, so I'll rephrase They can only buy so many meals, but as landlords they can buy all the houses That definitely affects everyone else!
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  185. There are more options than small state capitalism and centralised communism...
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  186. The best counterbalance to natural monopolies is not privatisation - this just changes who extracts and exploits the monopoly! Instead, you need pluralist democracy and strong journalism. If corruption is called out by journalists, and political alternatives are available, corrupt extraction can't last long It's easier to change a democratic governance than a shareholder executive!
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  187. If the megarich stop buying all the houses, then that's a good thing 🙂
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  188. Only when they are in opposition 🤔
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  189. History shows differently
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  190. ​ @darthkek1953 but American GDP is a financial bubble - America doesn't make enough stuff to keep that stable Which is classic late-stage capitalism. Paper wealth, rentierism and asset bubbles
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  191. Still sore about having spent years of your life studying an economic dogma that repeatedly fails when applied to the real world?
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  192. ​ @suburbanyobbo9412  yet, but they're working on it
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  193. The really short story is "we love our rich donors more than our constituents" - but they say that one really quietly!
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  194. It was targeted at the retired and the nearly retired... again Both Labour and Tories are building up a future demographic that will loathe the big two - who neglected them for their entire lives
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  195. Smaug-piling is bad though, so discouraging that is a good thing
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  196. ​ @daveisbrill Other than the language difference, there's definitely an argument that London and Tokyo are more similar to each other than to the respective rural regions I don't know rural life well enough to compare rural UK to rural Japan, but I suspect they would have quite a lot in common if you break past the language barrier
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  197. What do left wingers refuse to admit? Generally, we're quite open about the whole "tax the rich and nationalise our services" agenda in my experience
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  198.  @jeremykille4689  you can hold any opinion you like, but when it becomes action that affects others, they're going to respond Don't act all cute like we're just discussing ideas in a dusty library tea room. This is the future of the country!
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  199.  @jeremykille4689  caring about stuff is a high horse? You have very low standards!
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  200. ​ @peterclareburt4594 so, present ourselves as a light snack for whichever side gets to us first?
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  201. Get yourself some big plastic garden tubs - you fill them full of soil and they give you enough space to grow most things in them They are basically semiportable raised beds
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  202.  @adenwellsmith6908  tax is not sex 🙄 For tax, the implied consent is being in society. If you dislike society enough, you can go elsewhere. If you think relocating is too much effort, then you've made your choice I do agree that journalism in this country has a lot of room for improvement though!
    2
  203. @marcopolotimetraveller  I get the historic reasons why it was a good exchange token, but in the modern era of fiat currency, those reasons don't meet current requirements It's valuable because other people think it has value, rather than any utility it provides. That's an asset bubble, though admittedly a very persistent one!
    2
  204. So, YouTube. Can I even say the name Trump, or will this get deleted, too?
    2
  205. OK, all good so far. Let's see if I can make a simple, profanity-free statement like "he is terrible" Third time's the charm!
    2
  206. ​ @12theotherandrew but even in schools and hospitals, there's room for centralisation if done bottom up (what are most or all local leaders wanting that benefits from efficiency of scale) rather than top down (what does some ivory tower manager think local leaders need)
    2
  207. ​ @Thisisahandle701 indeed! You're not "adding value for customers" if you're just monopolising a scarce resource
    2
  208. ​ @fizywig are you a citizen who qualifies to vote in UK elections? If yes, then you are we 🙂
    2
  209. Yep. We really need a snappy term for "regulated but uncaptured markets", ie the sort of market they want us to think free market means, rather than the one they deliver
    2
  210. Hey regions! We've given you an emissary! Aren't you excited? How about investment and money? ...... ...
    2
  211. Sadly with Labour we are getting neither
    2
  212. @Benzknees  I am not seeing any evidence that this cycle is actually happening - all I see is consolidation and monopolisation as capital concentrates in the hands of a tiny minority
    2
  213. So Reeves is completely lacking in relevant experience? Given how many previous chancellors had history degrees etc, she's keeping up a long running tradition...
    2
  214. Sure, people who don't speak a word of French are from France 🙄
    2
  215. If you must focus on migrants, make sure you include money they make for their employer, not just their take-home If they make money for the economy, that's a net positive, even if their boss takes the money home rather than the worker
    2
  216.  @adenwellsmith6908  so this is a "corporations not paying enough tax" problem, not an immigration problem?
    2
  217. ​ @lukemclellan2141  because it's always a "short term gain, long term pain" con for electoral purposes
    2
  218.  @PeerAdder  their plans are disappointing. No matter how long I wait patiently, the plan will remain disappointing. A change of direction would be fantastic, but feels unlikely, as they have committed hard to their current direction 🙁
    2
  219. ​ @Stepbystep74 doesn't this simplify wealth taxes though? If you're claiming you have assets worth a billion when using them as collateral for a loan, then that's a valuation of a billion for your wealth tax assessment Very kind of them to simplify the paperwork for us 🙂
    2
  220.  @lflaherty3937  to be clear, I am deeply against overcentralisation, whether through state authoritarianism or corporate monopolisation I just found it very amusing that the metaphor so strongly implies an endorsement, especially after he said he strongly prefers black coffee 😆
    2
  221.  @stephenelkington4971  that only makes sense if I see myself as completely isolated from society. I am not isolated, so a functioning society is more valuable to me than a growing bank account. What use is money if I live in a gilded bunker?
    2
  222.  @stephenelkington4971  Money's weird. I agree, if you don't have any, it's the most important thing in the world! Once you have enough though, more really doesn't make you much happier. In fact, too much is shown to make you paranoid and miserable. It's a very curious commodity
    2
  223. and insider tradinf is great for the insiders, unless you go too far and crash everything Then they won't be so happy any more
    2
  224. Government is democratically accountable at least. I am not claiming that building a political movement is easy, but it's clearly more accessible to average people than gaining enough shareholder influence to steer a big multinational!
    2
  225. In France there's Nouveau Front Populaire, which is a coalition across an astoundingly broad range of left wing groups, from moderate left to radical communists. They've found agreement that opposing the right is more urgent than their differences Can we find something similar in the UK before the 2028/29 election?
    2
  226.  @charlievarley  you're talking about an option that doesn't exist - there are no surgeons sat waiting for patients. We can expand capacity if we invest money and attract new staff, but if we're investing, why not invest in-house?
    2
  227. @davehoughton7474  fair enough 🙂 If I was involved, I'd be wanting a costing of how much it would cost to buy sufficient gold, and request some alternate proposals to explore what other assets we could secure for the same price There's probably better options for the UK than buying gold
    2
  228. Has there ever been a case where a reliable social safety net has been a bad thing for a state to have?
    2
  229. but is he putting the country first, or just mar-a-largo?
    2
  230. ​ @Andrew-rc3vh if Oxbridge-educated politicians are any guide, "better than oxbridge" is a very low bar to clear!
    2
  231. It's a problem if you're adding to it just to give more subsidies and tax breaks to billionaires...
    2
  232.  @duggdog9102  as opposed to the "sensible grown up" plan of growing the economy by investing nothing, and changing very little?
    2
  233.  @keithmarshall8796  they don't live in the right place? They don't have the right skills and experience? They're long term sick or disabled? Was it one of those, or were you thinking of a different answer?
    2
  234. Bingo!
    2
  235. So you're going to force pensioners back to work?
    2
  236. @imbonkers3629  the record low was 3.4%, and the record high was 11.9% 4.6% is a really low unemployment rate!
    2
  237. ​ @billB101 as opposed to the world beating success of Johnson and Truss?
    2
  238. Wenn es richtig ist, warum nicht?
    2
  239. ​ @SBuk1 that's a ridiculous interpretation - the markets reacted to the minibudget. The reaction was well established before the BoE made any statements
    2
  240. I doubt it was the regulator who prioritised all those dividend payouts ahead of infrastructure investment
    2
  241.  @branduusituuli  I have heard of pensioners, but I have also heard about this thing called the triple lock
    2
  242.  @branduusituuli  so people need to vote to protect their material interests, rather than vote for who they think would be a laugh down the pub A gold standard currecy won't protect you from a government that serves a narrow, closed circle of chums. The only protection there is to not put such people in power, even if their banter game is good
    2
  243.  @hustlinmagic  so what happened to the houses? Where are they now?
    2
  244.  @alexguest9937  he doesn't care about us - he is quite happy to sell off the NHS so we'll be up to our eyes in debt if we fall ill, just like America
    2
  245. ​@branduusituuli I am paying off a loan at the moment. Am I doing to go bankrupt? No, because I also have a wage coming in. Listing outgoings without pairing them against incomings misrepresents the truth And governmnent tax income is even more guaranteed than my wage, so you have to include it in the reckoning
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  246.  @branduusituuli  that's my point though - if you only include outgoings, I am screwed. In reality though, I have income, so it's fine The government figures are doommongering by only including the outgoings, not the income
    2
  247. ​ @johnburns4017 and this is a problem, because rent seeking is parasitic on productive work. Wonder why we have a productivity crisis right now? 🤔
    2
  248. Your entire argument assumes the private company will be cheaper - but in house is the cheapest option, so why outsource?
    2
  249. Bet she doesn't refuse a state pension later in life though 🤔
    2
  250. so you think our current public services are desirable, and don't want to change anything?
    2
  251. If you or me were to take a loan to buy a car to get to work, that's very different to taking a loan for a fancy holiday, even if the holiday costs less than the car - the car keeps money coming in, the holiday money is just gone Biden bought a car and went to work. Trump just wants a fancy holiday
    2
  252. ​ @downshift4503  I suppose we could all individually transport our rubbish to the tip, but that sounds like a crazy inefficient way to run things to me!
    2
  253. Based on water and public transport, relevant experience seems to be entirely optional when running things in the UK 🙁
    2
  254. and as anyone with hands-on experience knows, metrics just creates people good at gaming targets, which is completely different to getting the job done!
    2
  255. ​@imbonkers3629 but we don't? We're not even in the top 10 by any metric I have found
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  256. Citation needed. The majority don't seem to be happy with their circumstances right now!
    2
  257. ​ @helenheenan3447 nah, they build bots smarter than this, nowadays!
    2
  258. I would say our Red Coat Person is smarter than Rachel Reeves At least Red Coat Person can point to historical cases where their plan worked!
    1
  259. ​ @adenwellsmith6908 being liquid and keeping the economy flowing
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  260. So, I made a short comment about liquidity in the economy, and it's disappeared? The YouTube filters are seriously broken!
    1
  261. I don't like the idea that we can't trust our politicians, and by extension, the electorate If we vote for irresponsible people, we get irresponsible policy. What went wrong, to make irresponsible people so attractive?
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  262. You could say the same about old people Now, old people have earned their retirement, but it's still a lot of housing, healthcare and other support we need to provide!
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  263.  @martineyles  Maybe! There's pros and cons for both options
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  264. ​ @Spartan-jg4bf but let's have some common sense here - which costs more - getting some of your power from the most expensive source, or getting all of your power from the most expensive source?
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  265.  @Spartan-jg4bf  factually wrong. Start again please!
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  266.  @Spartan-jg4bf  Norway has it's own oil, but domestically uses renewables and sells fossil fuels to others for profit They do this because renewables are cheaper, but other people are still paying to burn the expensive stuff. Economic common sense
    1
  267.  @Spartan-jg4bf  Iran, Quatar and Russia are also heavily centralised governments that intervene heavily in the market Are you more or less arguing for central planning here?
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  268. Macron and ensemble appear to be tragically repeating history They're willing to try appease the far right rather than let a single communist into parliament. Even if you hate communism with every fibre of your being, would one or two in parliament really do more harm than a Le Pen government?
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  269. ​ @inguzwulf it's worthwhile to distinguish between private enterprise (owning a business) vs capitalism (making money the dominant poliitical influence) There are systems that can enable private enterprise without giving wealth overriding political power ahead of all other interests
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  270. I already don't drink Grants because it tastes like drain cleaner Now I know why!
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  271. ​ @bramvanduijn8086  I think you might be underestimating the scale of the royal estates. They own a truly vast amount of stuff in this country!
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  272.  @glassmuxxic  there isn't a clear boundary because it is a slope, not a line There are people who are quite rich, who should pay a bit more. That scales up to people who are very rich, and need to pay a lot more
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  273. The NHS is already bad at internal data sharing - how will that improve by fracturing it up?
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  274. Starmer does seem to be determined to get his name in the history books - in the same list as von Hindenburg and Chamberlain
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  275. I do want less wealth inequality - so let's tax it!
    1
  276.  @downshift4503  have you asked any Bulgarians?
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  277.  @downshift4503  their communist party was better at running things than the Polish one, and many Bulgarians question free market reforms to this day
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  278.  @downshift4503  Bulgarians I know associate the communist era with stability and community. That's something a lot of people here in the UK want right now
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  279.  @lkearney7299  why so focused on the worst examples? Bit of a bleak outlook on life there!
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  280. ​@MrAlb3rtazzo maybe investors should consider themselves lucky if they break even? Is it realistic to assume that every enterprise will be so wildly successful, it covers it's running costs and supports a substantial passive income?
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  281. Sure, because Argentina is doing so well under Milei...
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  282. @Exanto777  all good, as long as modernisation makes things better, rather than like Thames Water!
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  283. Don't see why data centres have to be in the south. In the day job, I see massive amounts of data bunged across the Atlantic. In data terms, the other end of the country is basically next door
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  284. Should we not ask who they intend to deliver for?
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  285. I can argue no. If the Tories got the votes they got in 2024, but a Social Democratic Labour on 2024 matched the votes Labour did in 2019, we would have a Social Democratic Labour government now
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  286. It's as real as government 🙂
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  287. Soar... and then crash again. It's wildly volatile
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  288. Depends how you plan to end it. If you end it by empowering Putin...
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  289. He's a well-meaning person who has swallowed a very right-wing economic textbook 🙁
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  290. @petermach8635  Starmer has been declared unfit to be a member of the Haldane society, so the left wing of the legal profession have basically disowned him Hardly suprising, when his cabinet consistently go for a very Thatcherite policy of outsourcing as much as possible to private companies, regardless of any evidence that this will be more expensive than keeping services in-house!
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  291. @martinsingfield  but which is more disruptive - a few days of strike action, or staff going elsewhere, permanently? Ideally a negotiation will be settled without strike action, but if discussion fails to resolve concerns, one option is clearly less disruptive than the other
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  292.  @user-rb3jw7yj9o  indeed, but that's concentrated money as much as any local statutes. The banks and hedge funds outside the City are just as bad as the ones inside!
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  293. ​ @simonf7367  deflation is bad, because it makes everything cheaper tomorrow When everything is cheaper tomorrow, only the bare minimum of essentials get bought today. It stagnates the whole economy, and harms a lot of people
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  294. ​ @joananthony6323 💚
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  295. Labour need to do something. Sadly what they are actually trying is more reviews, reports and focus groups, so they won't even have started actually doing anything for many years yet 🙁
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  296. @loc4725  not sure where you got that idea from! LVT is definitely an option I'd like to see explored
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  297.  @loc4725  it comes down to a choice - who makes the investment descisions for society? A government with a democratic mandate, or private wealth? We have observed what private wealth does when investing, and with extremely rare exception they invest to consolidate and strengthen their personal wealth and power If we don't want an oligarchy, we need to tax wealth that is only being used to maximise rent seeking, and invest it to make society prosperous instead. All options should be considered, except for continuing as we are, because this clearly isn't working!
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  298.  @loc4725  but the New Deal stimulated the economy because it was redistributive Putting purchasing power in the hands of more people was fundamental to it's success. If they just built lots of bridges without paying those bridge builders well, it wouldn't have been a success
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  299.  @loc4725  but we have historic examples that show it can be done, if actively managed with coordinated policy If unqualified people make a mess of economic policy, where skilled people have succeeded, that shows we need capable people, not that it is impossible to do such policies
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  300.  @loc4725  or we could both listen more to etremely qualified economists. I'd recommend Mariana Mazzucato and Joseph Stiglitz. I am sure there are others too
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  301. That's a bit unfair - he's also sold out to homegrown private medical investors too!
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  302. ​ @meggrotte4760 the problem with the last 40 years is it did mostly work, but only for a few Now, it's not going to work for anyone, but those few will still hog whatever prosperity is left standing after the decline
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  303. ​@akastewart broadly, but with nuance Like their shouldn't be wealth taxes on non-UK wealth, but if you use that capital to buy UK assets then there will be transaction taxes on that, and could be wealth taxes on that asset
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  304.  @martinspencer1618  feel free to move to the big cities and work there, too or not, but then don't complain if companies hire the people who will move there
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  305. ​ @andrewlong6438  not for free - thoae server farms aren't cheap! The recent AI rollouts are a loss leader for market capture. They don't make sense otherwise
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  306. Trump is intelligence
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  307. We just want people to contribute to the upkeep of the society they live in If you don't want to help pay the bills, feel free to leave!
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  308. ​ @joepaluka9031 we all should decide, based on evidence and measurable actions
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  309. ​@williampennjr.4448 you think companies care about their customers? They want to monopolise and trap their customers. If a company is forced to care about quality and satisfaction, it's despite capitalism, not because of it
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  310. ​ @glyngreen538 I am starting to think the purge might be a blessing in disguise. It's forced the left to find a proper heartland rather than get lost inside the big tent 🙂
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  311. What the rich buy, is houses and politicians The existence of the ultra wealthy creates cost of living problems for everyone else
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  312.  @alexdavis1541  there's more to it than that, but it's the simplest example of why "letting people get ultra rich" isn't consequence-free for everyone else
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  313. Halfway there - what Argentina and Venezuela missed out was setting tax policy to take money out of the economy and mitigate inflation
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  314. ​ @UtubeRwokeLefties don't remember this happening in my lifetime. Labour have been a bit happy to let the private sector take excessive profits out of public services, but there hasn't been a Labour-triggered financial crisis in the 4-odd decades I've been alive
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  315.  @UtubeRwokeLefties  that was an American crisis that the UK got caught up in
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  316. ​@PatSmith-d5w I think both are true. Starmer is massively unpopular, yet also slightly preferable to any of the alternatives Uk politics is in a right mess 🙁
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  317.  @alecdurbaville6355  real is what happens, regardless of who believes in it
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  318. @sebastianbywater2445  the rentiers don't allocate efficiently, they allocate selfishly and in a short-termist way That's why everything is broken now
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  319.  @sebastianbywater2445  I question your assertion that governments are always inefficient, but even going along with your argument, I'd rather an inefficient allocation of resources, when the alternative is no resources at all!
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  320. ​ @keithshippey230  bingo - Labour vs Tory is "who can be the most competent Thatcherite" nowadays If you want a different direction, vote elsewhere
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  321. ​nope, 25% ownership
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  322. ​@drbalbon7332 if I stand with Jewish people, I'm not antisemitic. Is that a common sense position you would agree with?
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  323. ​ @TobotronPrime don't see why there needs to be a conflict between affordable homes and affordable transport - why not push for both?
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  324. As long as capital gains taxes exist, can't we just let them self report? We get the money either way. Even if we let them claim that mansion is somehow only worth £1000, the capital gains on that is going to be substantial if it suddenly sells for 2 billion!
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  325.  @sibutterworth6542  so which bit don't you want? Tax collection maybe?
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  326. Vote Green, and add to the call for wealth taxes!
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  327. ​ @DaveEP we get that now with FPTP, if a faction in a big tent party is willing to be disruptive We've just watched it happen for the last decade or so!
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  328.  @DaveEP  what's weak about intelligent discussion and collaboration? The economy generally isn't something you can influence by shouting loudly at it. Informed policy is generally considered more useful
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  329.  @Law00999  well, how's our current, highly individualist economy looking?
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  330. @Law00999  pretty much every major innovation was state funded and achieved through collective effort. The internet we're using right now, for example. The initial effort was state funded, and at every stage it depends on collaboration between very many people
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  331.  @Law00999  that's the web, which even if you want to credit to one person, is just one layer in a stack of systems. It's also been expanded by numerous efforts since, all of which have to interoperate and coordinate It's a massively collaborative effort
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  332. @Law00999  there you go, even in selfishness, we intuitively know our self interests are best served collectively through community. Absolutist, pure selfishness is rare, and rarely successful in the long run
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  333.  @darthkek1953  so does China, but they physically build stuff, too
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  334. ​ @garyb455 the free market will sort it out. Another wealthy person who isn't a tax dodger will move in to fill the gap
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  335. The ballot box is where they will feel it. If you live somewhere where the Greens came second to Labour, you know what you can do 🙂
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  336. ​ @stephenjenkins1323 increase prices and cut investment? Sounds like unregulated capitalism to me!
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  337. and seems to be determined to pretend that even in housholds, you can take out loans If you need a car for work, but can only afford it on credit, you take out a loan and buy the car rather than quit work!
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  338. It's tough being an independent now - it might be differently tough under PR, but still tough either way
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  339. But where is the centre ground? "Sensible" Labour seem to be sticking with the same ideas from the last four decades, and are eternally surprised when nothing changes as a result
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  340. Would it change your reaction if it wasn't put forward as a revenue raising policy, but as a disincentive against inflationary behaviour?
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  341.  @suburbanyobbo9412  but let's not take the chance, because if we find out for sure, it's too late
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  342.  @suburbanyobbo9412  we can be clear they aren't fans of democracy though. They all want to minimise democratic participation, presumably remove it entirely if given the chance
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  343. This doesn't reflect real world behaviour The biggest inhibitor on entrepreneurship is prohibitive risk, not lack of reward. We need to give people a stronger safety net (but not a luxurious one) At the moment, only people with generational wealth feel they can be adventurous. Everyone else has to play ultra-cautious as they know they could easily end up destitute if a high-stake idea goes wrong
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  344.  @piccalillipit9211  I don't know which option is more sad. At least self-serving corruption has a short-sighted logic to it To think he might have a genuine belief that being a better captain of the Titanic can make "ship currently sinking" work better for everyone is just tragically depressing
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  345.  @piccalillipit9211  is he even manning the lifeboats? It's more like "if we all act like we did pre-iceberg, the ship will somehow still make it to dock"
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  346.  @OneAndOnlyMe  my worry is it feels like actors performing as sensible experts, rather than actual experts. Too many proven experts are saying we need a different direction, and that Blair: electric boogaloo isn't sufficient
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  347. @GLOBALFACTSandFIGURES  while I don't want anyone to be squeezed, fact is most people under 50 have been squeezed for decades The older generation are just joining the same club everyone else has been part of. We're finally all in it together
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  348.  @GLOBALFACTSandFIGURES  I feel sorry for anyone who didn't vote for this, but if you've spent the last 4 decades voting for governments that sold everything off and deregulated everything? You got what you voted for. Take some responsibility for your actions!
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  349.  @adenwellsmith6908  that sounds rather high - do you have a source?
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  350. I don't know much about him - what do you think he could bring to the role?
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  351. @imbonkers3629  actual foreign currency debt is a problem, but AFAIK we don't have a lot of that Private debt in UK Stirling is still a problem, but not as serious, while deficit spending is remarkably elastic - not limitless, but a trivial issue compared to hard debt in foreign currency In short, not all debt is equal!
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  352. Whatever we pick, they'll attack. Got to stand our ground somewhere, so why keep running?
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  353. ​ @jardenc  ...show that Tufton St ideas have failed
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  354.  @jeremykille4689  do you honestly think there'd never be another murder if we deported all the brown people?
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  355.  @jeremykille4689  youtube is eating posts again. It might be hard to continue this conversation 🙁
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  356.  @ianross5019  that sounds like a slow and sluggish nightmare. Reacting to crises would be impossible! Being an MP is meant to be an active job - you learn about your brief and use that knowledge to drive policy. If we elect MPs that skive off from learning, that's on us
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  357. ​ @1414141x there needs to be tax because hyperinflation is bad, and that's what would happen if taxes are stripped away
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  358. Why would the billionaires who got rich on fossil fuel, use their control to make us use less fossil fuel?
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  359. You say that money isn't ours, because it belongs to the government - but the government is ours, so collectively the money is ours, too We do own it. All of it 🙂
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  360. Is "Blitz" short for "watch how quickly I can repeatedly shoot myself in the foot"?
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  361. Hmmm, YouTube didn't like my comment about trump. There was no profanity or threats Is YouTube shilling for Trump now?
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  362.  @octavianpopescu4776  wierd how protective YouTube is, all of a sudden But rumours of political influence on social media companies are entirely false, obviously 🤔
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  363. ​@joepaluka9031 but under PR, Portillo would never have been in governmnent in the first place! At best, he would be part of a coalition which would have blocked the most extreme vandalism of Thatcher. Wouldn't that have been better than where we ended up?
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  364.  @joepaluka9031  and which of those countries would be improved by giving their largest minority party absolute power?
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  365. Yeah, it was a silly plan to sell off all the national assets
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  366. Youtube, what's so offensive about discussing privatisation? Why are you hiding my post about it?
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  367.  @ChrisLee-yr7tz  citation needed on that one, please
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  368. or maybe Capitalism is when you use money to shut out competition, and all that's changed is now the mask has dropped?
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  369.  @JupiterThunder  so "fiscal responsibility" is quitting your job rather than buying a car on credit?
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  370. ​@Benzknees that presumes it gets spent, and not stashed in tax havens or rentier assets
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  371. ​ @danielpye7738 I'm tired of casino banking causing financial chaos. If they aren't part of the same society as us, no bailouts from us next time they crash everything We should protect ourselves, not the people who cause crashes
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  372. ​ @maplin007 tax stabilises the value, if taxes are well managed This low tax regime is going to make the dollar behave a lot like bitcoin - a cycle of hyperinflation and massive crashes
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  373. I've tried to explain this to Starmerite loyalists so many times! Sure, Corbyn wasn't perfect, but the demonisation being directed at him doesn't just affect Corbyn himself - it turns away everyone who was excited by what he stood for By pushing away Corbyn, Labour have pushed away the many people who voted for him, because they want what Corbyn offered
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  374. It's important to remember Farage isn't this. He's got other plans (mostly involving making his chosen few ever wealthier) - immigration is just the distraction while he works on the plans he really cares about
    1
  375. @timwoodger7896  Bannon will never agree with Sanders because Bannon doesn't actually want to fix the problem, he just wants to appear to care about fixing it Bannon is 100% comfortable with massive wealth inequality, as long as he doesn't get blamed for the problems
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  376. A cancer that is localised to one place is easier to operate on than a cancer that has metastatised everywhere
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  377. What would that even look like? That only 100% cis ethnonationalist companies are allowed as investments?
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  378. If we side with no-one, then we're fair game to be pushed around by everyone Geopolitics gets pretty ruthless, especially once a major power starts causing disruption
    1
  379.  @skyblazeeterno  are there any examples? Everyone I can think of is either big enough to stand alone, or in some kind of collective bloc (some more formally integrated than others)
    1
  380.  @skyblazeeterno  they maintain a facade of independence, but in practice they are deeply integrated with the Single Market. There's no sane world where they'd side with anyone than the EU if someone like Trump forces them to declare a side
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  381.  @OneAndOnlyMe  Richard Murphy was describing generalised systems that would replace staff rather than assist them Maybe he's misinformed, but I'm responding to the claims as presented here
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  382.  @wideyxyz2271  but not with absolute authority. His plan got clobbered by Reeves - and on that note, put her on the List of Shame ahead of Milliband, too!
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  383. and by "better look" you mean "donate more"?
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  384. I am not so sure. I believe they gave Trump what he asked for, rather than what he really wanted And a token gesture toward what he asked for, at that
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  385. You lost me when you claimed the Tories are socialist
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  386.  @schrodingerscat1863  but that's One Nation Toryism - where you still have a hereditary elite, but the entitled few throw a few more scraps down than their more oppressive peers would It's not socialism until you actually give people power rather than charity
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  387.  @adenwellsmith6908  but we have the exact same problem if you fill those roles with anyone. Even if you take the narrowest, natively born and bred workers you can define, the problem is still corporations not paying their way
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  388.  @adenwellsmith6908  I'm not seeing this profit. The national account has a deficit, not a surplus
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  389. They could, but I doubt they will 🙁
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  390. it's why I am preferring solidarity to tolerance nowadays
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  391. ​@barrydwyer2039 problem is we don't have enough in-house civil servants, and instead have lots of private subcontracts to the likes of Serco and Deloitte
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  392.  @woofpet  or perhaps more accurately, "full speed running on the spot!"
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  393. Because without it, we don't have a currency
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  394.  @edwardmclaughlin7935  you could rename/reinvent it, but something has to be the issuer of currency. If not the BoE, then something that's effectively the BoE under a different name
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  395. ​ @danielpye7738 printing money is step one Taxing stagnant money is step two, which balances things so inflation stays manageable You are entirely correct that doing step one without step two would be very silly!
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  396. Expensive oil and gas is killing UK business We need to move to cheap solar and wind urgently
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  397. and also because they "understand" large donations
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  398.  @AIJimmybad  so you're saying we should tax billionaires more? I agree!
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  399. @terryboland3816  I've made my point, and there's no point labouring it I'll keep reading your posts, and will reply if you improve your standard. All the best, hope you rise to the challenge!
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  400. Don't see anything wrong with devolution - central control is notoriously blind to the detail required to manage anything other than broad, high level policy
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  401.  @arthurdixon5890  is this not an inevitable result of out-of-touch policies from a remote and out-of-touch centralised government?
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  402.  @arthurdixon5890  I agree we need devolved governments in England, too - Westminster is just too remote to know what problems need solving outside of Knightsbridge and Chelsea
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  403. @arthurdixon5890  but united doesn't mean blanket one-size-fits-none policies. It should be about sharing efforts that benefit from being done at scale, while tailoring everything else to local needs
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  404.  @arthurdixon5890  even if you have a perfect constituency MP, you still have the one-size-fits-none problem. Your MP has to find a compromise with every other constituency MP for the national policy, rather than each region adapting to local needs
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  405.  @arthurdixon5890  that seems like a very extreme take on togetherness - community is about connection, not conformity. The high modernist standardisation from above mindset fails every time it is tried - the only question is whether it fails gently or catastrophically
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  406.  @clarkhunt4014  because it's all a myth that scarcity increases wages. If it did, nurses would have had a bigger pay rise, and sooner! Organising politically increases wages, not scarcity
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  407.  @Chav-j2z  if the poorest are squeezed now, it will only get harder if the country is in decline
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  408. ​ @seanfennessey1851 go on then, I've started the clock
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  409. Give me your money, and I will! If you're not giving out money, then I need to be cautious. Don't have much of a safety net to count on
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  410.  @martineyles  which is going to be a problem by the next election
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  411. @martineyles  they are already out of fashion - they have a few small pockets of support, with no signs of extending their popularity much further
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  412. Haven't seen any evidence they've even read Marx, let alone follow any of his ideas!
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  413.  @Gill12283  indeed. If they were smart, they'd at least consider what Marx said, even if they don't follow every word
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  414. The Green vote is suppressed by FPTP - credible estimates say the Greens will double or triple their vote under a representative system
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  415. ​ @aniksamiurrahman6365 a financialised economy only needs a tiny percentage to be financially literate And that tiny minority can definitely exploit illiteracy in everyone else
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  416. You've already broken your metaphor, as you definitely can have espresso on it's own, accidentally endorsing state owned centrally planned economics 😝
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  417. I'm starting to suspect some people neither watched the whole video, nor read the entire thread, but it's all good because it's all fuel for the algorithm 🙂
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  418. That's not the events I have read about. The Weimar communists legged it, and the social democrats were the last opposition standing in Weimar politics
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  419. More people need to vote Green, and have a governmnent that will tax the people who caused this mess, so they contribute to helping clean it up!
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  420.  @stephenelkington4971  that's easy! Can you join in with all the things your friends and colleagues do, and not panic about money at the end of the month? If you're confident you can, then you have enough. More money won't make you much happier than you already are
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  421. You're having a laugh, surely? Hackney and Tower Hamlets have some of the busiest nightlife in London!
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  422. ​ @hazelwray4184 don't just repeat lazy conspiracies, it makes you easy to dismiss as a crackpot. Name them properly so you have evidence to fall back on It's Quadrature, and the Green(washing) Finance Institute. They donated, and now they're having their say on policy
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  423.  @battybibliophile-Clare  but the WEF is just a boozy weekend away for ultra-rich people. Nothing important happens there If you're looking over at what they do in the WEF, you're missing the important stuff they're doing on the quiet
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  424.  @kathyswearingen1509  can we stop obsessing over the WEF? It's just a posh drinks event. Nothing would change if we blocked it from happening!
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  425.  @Fezzz1234  fiat currency is one of those terrible ideas that we shouldn't do, if it wasn't for the fact that all the other ideas are even worse
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  426. He's going to be king of the ruins. Guess his place in history is guaranteed, at least...
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  427. ​ @petersmith7126 History didn't start on Oct 7th. Nobody serious would claim the Ukraine war started on the 6th of August, when Ukraine entered Kursk
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  428. The difference is both sides have been screwed over by it now. The right used to claim it was just something the left cared about. That's changed now
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  429. Why would Starmer lead? He's just there to read out Mcsweeney's press releases
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  430. We need representation of broader interests in politics Labour moving away from the unions was a terrible move. Now everyone is backed by donations from landlords and ceos If anything we need more than just wealth or trade unions backing politicians - the more diverse the representation, the less chance that profit for a few will dictate policy
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  431. ​ @imbonkers3629  Kier serves bankers and billionaires. What could be more right-wing than that?
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  432. @Pegaroo_  fair point, but there is definitely a role for trees - eg the edge of the Sahara, where replanting is needed and would be very effective, but algae wouldn't be very viable!
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  433. ​@billB101 my guess is they are doing austerity because their new chums who fund the party want more austerity
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  434.  @billB101  you don't need to donate much to have influence - especially if donations from grassroots membership are collapsing, which they are
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  435. @Minimmalmythicist I agree, Starmer is like Macron - which is why I hope we can find our NFP before Starmer reaches the point Macron is at now A played-out Starmer vs Farage with no other alternative on the table is not a future I want to see!
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  436.  @harryleemc2000  who says there are opposing views? There are different priorities, which is why it's a coalition rather than a uniparty. There's plenty of common ground 🙂
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  437. This is what Richard said - you can print money to create jobs and build infrastructure The covid bailouts printed money, but effectively gave it all to supermarket owners and landlords, who used it to push prices up on property and shares This is the difference - building infrastructure expands the economy, while giving it to the already wealthy just gives the wealthy more power to push up the prices of existing assets
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  438.  @charlievarley  I am happy with any improvement, but that represents maybe half a percent in increased capacity I acknowledge that anyone would struggle to fix 14 years of damage, but it's clear that the private sector isn't waiting to save us. Why does Wes insist that we need to involve private medical capacity that doesn't exist?
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  439.  @charlievarley  social care is a good place to start! I can see that making far more difference than the other ideas they're promoting
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  440.  @stanleyshannon4408  no, they asserted they would practice self defence. I see no threat to start anything in this thread!
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  441. ​ @tonycollyweston6182 the large amount of money he's shovelling to private health firms?
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  442. I'd rather tax billionaires more. It's got a better track record than deporting marginalised groups and becoming insular
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  443. @zippy_uk1046  you can always find data, but that doesn't guarantee information Let's say you have the data for deaths on the operating table. Would you dismiss the surgeons with the highest death rate?
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  444. apparently terminal surgical complications are on the list of things YouTube doesn't like Thanks YouTube! This doesn't make discussion weird at all
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  445. Yeah, that trope's older than I am. The first "AI is taking over" was in the 60s IIRC. We'll see some niche uses for all this technological investment, but I'm not seeing a revolution. All the big breakthrough ideas have plateaued already
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  446. @william_marshal  only if you borrow, rather than issue new currency. This is why rich people hate deficit spending - ot reduces their chances to loan money and collect interest Obviously, they have a different view on running a deficit to enable tax cuts for the 1%...
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  447. @James-m8x3b  if you're the Fed, you just put the money on the official ledger, and it exists Sounds crazy, but that's all there is to it. The consequences can be complex, but the process is trivial
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  448. @James-m8x3b  best way to make it make sense is to go back to the very first fiat dollar ever created - where did it come from? Literally nowhere. It was created when the Central Bank declared that those dollars exist, where previously there was nothing. This is all any fiat currency is - a token recognised by the state and central bank, that you can use to be paid, and to pay taxes So they can still do the same now - if they decide more Dollars need to exist, then they will be created. Create a lot in a short period and the value will definitely be affected, but there's some flexibility - if the markets think the new money is being used wisely, the impact on the value will be much smaller than a Liz Truss Financial Event
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  449. Right wing economics is basically Smaug the dragon They don't care about the economy. They'll happily see everything burn as long as they get to sit on their pile of gold
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  450.  @davehoughton7474  but if other people have that gold, that's exactly the problem I'm talking about!
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  451.  @MookMineola  if you think the current lot aren't right wing, that says more about you than it does about them
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  452. You really believe it's the middle class that pays the majority of CGT?
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  453. Protip - there is no added value. Healthcare is 100% sunk cost
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  454. If you want to be free of multinational controls, renewable energy should be your first priority Who do you think controls the oil and gas?
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  455.  @Grandude77  council ownership might be even better - at least until we break our bad habit of voting self-serving posh idiots into Westminster!
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  456. Recent AI developments don't make sense as a productivity improvement - they are a massive loss-leader that doesn't make economic sense ...unless you see it as an IP and data grab. If you see it as an investment by people who want to control all the data and IP rights, then it makes all too much sense
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  457. @countryman5329  absolutely! I vote Green 😀
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  458.  @duggdog9102  the top 1% are hogging all the wealth
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  459. It's not like they don't already know
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  460. So is it reasonable and mainstream to nick steak bakes from Greggs and burn down libraries?
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  461. If you accept below inflation pay, you're accepting getting poorer. Why should anyone accept that?
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  462. @taffyterrier  not really, it's still a reduction in their real income, but they have more buffer to absorb it
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  463.  @taffyterrier  but if they invest less, relative to the wider market, their ability to buy all the assets is reduced Which would be a good thing, but they did get poorer!
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  464. @taffyterrier  decades ago, you could buy a brand new car for a few hundred pounds. Now that would just about be the scrap value Absolute terms tell you nothing useful!
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  465. @taffyterrier  never said you have any right to buy one, the point is that value is determined by what you can buy at that point in history, not the absolute value and the rich are getting richer because they almost always secure above inflation increases to their income. They know how the game is played
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  466. Guess it depends on who controls the money, but I would say most MMT advocates would say it's a negotiation between corporations and state. A merger implies aligned policy and interests, while in practice state and corporate priorities will be a mix of both shared interests and conflicting priorities
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  467. @billB101  by implication, yes - because Johnson and Truss is what we got, when we could have had Corbyn instead. How confident are you that Corbyn would have been worse than those two?
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  468. I am less than convinced that Amazon knows what it's doing with all this "AI", and it's likely to turn into a giant white elephant Maybe they'll surprise me and find a practical, cost effective use for all this electricity and hardware - but I suspect they'd surprise themselves too when that happens!
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  469. The slightly cynical, but realistic truth is politicians will look after whoever they depend on to be reelected If that's the press (and those who fund the press), then that is who a politician will prioritise. We need politicians who rely mainly on grassroots support, as then even the most cynically mercenary among them will look after the grassroots, as the politician needs their support
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  470.  @branduusituuli  but if everyone has a big pile of economically inactive capital, that will devalue the currency far more than our current mild inflation will!
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  471.  @branduusituuli  I'll go for an extreme example, to demonstrate the effect. Let's imagine everyone suddenly gains enough money to buy an average house outright. Are house prices going to stay the same? No - they'll rise. Sellers will know the money is out there, and buyers will have to compete. You want to buy that house? Too bad, you've been outbid by a group who were willing to pool their resources to outbid you Prices will rebalance to reflect the buying power that's in the market. That's what market dynamics do
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  472.  @branduusituuli  so an economic mexican standoff, where everyone has money, but nobody wants to lose out by making the first move on spending any? Typically that results in a shadow economy, where economic activity is done by barter and ad-hoc IOUs. If it continues long enough, people will adopt a foreign currency as a de facto local currency, or a semi-formal shadow currency will form Simple truth is currency only has value if people buy stuff with it, and the more it is stockpiled, the less useful it is
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  473.  @branduusituuli  this is an interesting conversation, because we agree of a lot of things, just disagree on how to achieve them So for more conversation fuel, what if we lean into being able to print fiat currency, but give it to people who currently don't have much wealth, rather than giving it to the already wealthy? What do you think would happen then?
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  474. ​ @andyinsuffolk but wealth absolutely is a barrier to other people gaining wealth If I want to start a shop, and someone with generational wealth does the same, they can outbid me on that property. Their wealth can (and often does) bid me out of opportunities to get a foot on the ladder
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  475.  @andyinsuffolk  so your entire life advice is "be born rich"?
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  476.  @andyinsuffolk  fiat currency only favours asset owners if you give new money to existing asset owners If you give new money to wage earners, either directly as a basic income, or indirectly by funding public services and infrastructure, fiat currency will benefit wage earners instead
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  477.  @grolfe3210  any figures on how often that saving was real? Often, the new externalities cost more than the savings
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  478. ​ @foxmoongaze we are not looking at the same Argentina here
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  479.  @foxmoongaze  I am seeing a hollowing out that's going to leave it reverting to developing nation status if they stick with the current trajectory. There will be a few profitable sectors left standing, but not enough to sustain the country
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  480. @foxmoongaze  if I was Argentinian, and able to leave, I'd be looking at my options. Many already have!
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  481.  @foxmoongaze  there's some common patterns there. Wonder who will stop self-harming first?
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  482. Stopping Putin now is expensive, but stopping him next year will cost even more Economically and morally, it's shortsighted
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  483. I wish that we true - instead it will be the American model of drugs for everyone, even if they're of dubious relevance 🙁
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  484. The gold standard is the worst idea for ordinary people - it gives all the power to the people who currently have the gold How much gold do you have?
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  485.  @MrGazzy  there was no shortage of wars when the gold standard was active!
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  486. ​@AndrewJepson-sn3yg and your evidence of this is?
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  487.  @edwardmclaughlin7935  have to start somewhere. Listing everything broken would take too long
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  488. How do superyachts improve the patient experience?
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  489. @hughjohns9110  what makes you think I voted Labour? PS how's the new lightbulb?
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  490. @hughjohns9110  really bad. All they need to do is open a centre in France and they'll stop overnight! Instead, they're chasing ghosts by trying to "smash the gangs"
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  491. Protest post to highlight that YouTube is hiding perfectly clean and respectable posts again 🙁
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  492.  @downshift4503  I don't do it now, bit I did part-time to get some money during college. I'm not too high and fancy for it!
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  493. @downshift4503  honestly, of the zero-qualification jobs I did back then, it was one of my favourites. The early start sucks, but otherwise it was nice to be outside and not stuck in one place!
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  494. There is a mechanism for redistributing from productive people to unproductive people It's called "rentier capitalism"
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  495.  @jameswhyte5094  I am not sure you can take activity that involves investing capital, with the intention of aquiring more capital and not call it capitalism. How does that work?
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  496.  @jameswhyte5094  you're going to get a planned economy if all the investment descisions are concentrated in a few hands. That's true whether the consolidation mechanism is revolution and dictatorship, or corporate buyouts
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  497. There is an interesting legal loophole though. While siezed assets can't be given away, apparently you can fund loans with them, then say you don't require the loan to be repaid EU "loans" to Ukraine are being done for this reason
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  498.  @imbonkers3629  largest civil service. Not even top 10
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  499. I worry the best way to "reform" it is wait for it to crash, and next time, bail out the people affected by the crash, not the people who were responsible
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  500. ​ @nawaz345 spend and tax, more accurately
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  501. If people keep retiring, and fewer people are born, immigration is the inevitable way to keep the country working as people retire
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  502. @billB101 then you shouldn't have anything to worry about - there's no far left movement large enough to be relevant
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  503.  @billB101  and they definitey exist 🙁
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  504. That's thanks to our screwed up FPTP voting. Labour actually got more votes in both 2017 and 2019 than in 2024 Their majority in 2024 is due to Tory collapse, and shameless pandering to a tiny minority of swing voters Under a representative system, Corbyns Labour would have more seats than Starmer's Labour
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  505. Apparently "old election results" is another thing YouTube won't let you talk about!
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  506.  @aweescotsdog8358  don't rely on luck - spread the word 🙂
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  507. ​ @jameswlong so do we need to outlaw Deliveroo etc, because they are a net drain on the economy?
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  508. But if private investment will make money, public investment could make that same money, and start to rebuild the UK finances We won't reverse the trend of the last 40 years by doubling down on the very policy that got us into this mess!
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  509.  @stevenpeaketrainsandstuff3682  or deficit spend and counter inflation with tax policy, especially if there are bloated and unproductive sectors that could bear more tax with minimal externalities on the wider economy
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  510. @stevenpeaketrainsandstuff3682  tax is both for revenue, and to (dis)incentivise behaviours. If I were in charge I'd be aiming for taxes that cover both roles
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  511. It's a universal problem in communication - different people can see different meanings behind the same label Use labels when you're confident your audience broadly takes the same meaning, and elaborate more explicitly if in doubt Doesn't help that some bad actors are actively muddying definitions and seeding confusion to propagandise and distract 🙁
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  512. It needs all the private finance booting out No point looking anywhere else until that simple step is done!
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  513. We do need to stop electing spivs and posh idiots to government!
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  514. @davideyres955  so what was unrealistic about the junior doctors pay expectations? It's what they got paid 15 years ago, and generally fair market rate internationally
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  515. Nothing wrong with that - it's who is doing the processing that's the issue
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