Comments by "" (@lonevoice) on "Richard J Murphy" channel.

  1.  @highpath4776  It is already full steam ahead for a US style economy. The needs of the public are almost irrelevant. The public are easily manipulated, healthcare privatisation is well underway, special economic zones and Freeport's are starting to pop up everywhere etc etc.
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  2. Agreed. Shouldn't we also identify assets which are owned by someone resident in a tax haven so that at least those assets could be taxed?
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  3. What's the point in posting a meaningless rant? At least explain and give us your logic or evidence.
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  4.  @stephendavis5530  The discussion is about immigration not the small subset of illegal immigration.
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  5. I agree but it's not going to happen. Starmer has already said that he isn't in favour of PR. Labour is clearly going to be very timid about doing anything meaningful whilst in office so I am just left wondering, what's the point?
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  6. I agree. The UK needs a transformation requiring significant investment in so many areas now. We are almost back to the late 1940s again. We have the scope for this and certainly managed it during covid when we conjured up £450bn even though we supposedly didn't have a "magic money tree".
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  7. Starmer seems to prefer deals with companies such as BlackRock rather than issue government bonds. BlackRock have a target return on their investments in the region of 15-20% but bonds are much cheaper, so what's going on?
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  8. If you had bothered to watch the video to the end you would realise that what you have stated is nonsense.
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  9. Where on earth did you get that from? The £1.5 trillion did not involve any payments. Watch the video!
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  10. The other consequence is that the wealthy's necessity to use their regular unspent money to buy assets, asset prices such as shares and property etc will tend to increase. Increases in property prices and rental costs then have a further drain on the active economy.
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  11. I agree. My biggest concern is national level hierarchy. In my view national leaders are really problematic and should have been consigned to history as a medieval relic long ago. National leadership as we have it is chaotic and dangerous. In my view leadership should be by a small democratic cross party collective.
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  12. If the wealthy like Dyson lose interest in owning agricultural landowners then perhaps the price of agricultural land will drop and tenant farmers might be able to buy their own land.
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  13. Totally agree. With dire public services, a housing crisis and a growing and economically damaging wealth inequality, some transformative measures are desperately needed. Rachel Reeves is only offering Tory Lite policies so the problems will continue to grow.
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  14. Yes it is a great book and well worth a read. Gary's Economics YouTube channel is also worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/c/GarysEconomics. And if you haven't read it I would also recommend "The Deficit Myth" by Stephanie Kelton.
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  15. We have a growing wealth inequality in the UK which as Richard explains is damaging our economy. The problem with the wealthy is widely recognised in that they are unable to spend enough. They always have a surplus each year that they then use to buy assets such as shares or property etc. That in turn pushes up asset prices with a consequence on inflating rents etc but more importantly it acts as a drain on the active economy. As wealth inequality grows, more and more is drained out of the active economy into assets. The economy is inhibited from functioning properly and asset prices rise.
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  16. Good. Thanks Richard. My suggested books for anyone looking for a Christmas present would include: "The Invisible Doctrine" by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchinson "Failed State" by Sam Freedman "Left Behind" by Paul Collier "The Deficit Myth" by Stephanie Kelton
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  17. What has Richard taxed wealth? I'm confused. Are you saying that pension contributions have gone into some sort of black hole and have been lost?
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  18. Merry Christmas to all. I am not a believer but my wife is and I often join her in church and I know most of the congregation. They once had a vicar who was vocal about social issues in his sermons and I personally found that I could relate to much of what he said. It seems that I was in the minority and this vicar didn't last long. The congregation wanted someone who would just stick to the traditional teachings of the church.
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  19. I didn't think that Richard was talking about an unlimited creation of money. He was referring to a sensible use of fiat money and probably more directed towards capital investment such as new green energy projects etc.
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  20. Under small government with freedom of choice would you even be able to build up an army in an emergency? Perhaps freedom of choice only works one way.
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  21. I agree. Allowing the wealthy to shelter their wealth from IHT in agricultural land has led to agricultural land prices being inflated. The reduction of IHT relief will lead to a reduction of interest by the wealthy in acquiring agricultural land, some may sell up, and this will lead to a drop in agricultural land prices. This is also a gripe by those protesting. Strangely, Jeremy Hunt when Chancellor, proposed to get rid of inheritance tax. This would have led to a drop in agricultural land prices but I don't recall any protests then.
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  22. Is government focused on satisfying the needs of the public or the super wealthy? I must admit, I think government is in a transition towards the later, and the increasing use of the private sector and the clamours for small government is all part of that.
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  23. With worsening public services, a housing crisis and a growing and economically damaging wealth inequality, Labour need to be transformative but so far all we see are timid Tory Lite policies. They have the scope, whether through MMT, borrowing, a wealth tax etc but so far there is nothing and I doubt that is going to change.
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  24. I agree that we need PR. I would also like to see it move on from there so that we have annual online voting and a small cross party executive rather than a national leader. The problem with leaders is that you never know what you are going to get or how far they will go, and in current times can be dangerous.
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  25. I imagine that US private equity will love this. We are already seeing them hoover up British business on the cheap and with many basing their UK operation in tax havens not much UK tax can be collected. Hardly surprising that the management of the UK economy is becoming increasingly problematic.
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  26.  @OghamTheBold  As Richard says MMT has to be used very carefully and a lid needs to be kept on inflation. He mentioned Stephanie Kelton. She was a key member of Biden's economic task force when he came into power. They used MMT for some significant investment. They seem to have inflation largely under control and most of what they do have is supply sided.
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  27. Leadership by an individual is problematic regardless of whether it is a democracy or autocracy. All too often we see that leaders mislead and cannot be trusted. In their place I would prefer to see leadership by a small cross party collective voted in on proportional representation, perhaps with annual online elections to fine-tune the constituents. The collective may have a chairperson and a spokesperson but they would be appointed and controlled by the small collective, not the other way around.
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  28. Although not directly affecting us yet, this should be a wake up call to the UK and probably the rest of the world. We are becoming increasingly reliant on the US right across the board from commerce to defence and beyond. Should we start to react now before we really get screwed?
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  29. Probably increased now that winter fuel allowance is restricted. I suppose that government could have avoided some of the flack on this by making the claims process even more difficult or had a help phone line that no-one answers, a bit like the HMRC model.
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  30. People didn't understand the implications of Brexit but were still willing to take the gamble and vote for it.
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  31.  @Redf322  Yes I have seen that and it is scary. Not sure that this was the whole reason behind Brexit. I think that the proposed EU anti-tax avoidance directive played some part.
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  32.  @billB101  Superficially maybe but no I really don't. It's much the same with their economic policies.
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  33.  @billB101  I must have missed it. Where did you see all of this? I often wonder over what time frame AI development will really start to bite, whether UBI is part of the solution etc etc. I would be grateful for your source of insight. On the subject of economics, again I seemed to have missed Reeves's statements on surging wealth inequality and asset price inflation, anything on MMT or the significant drop in UK debt relating to public sector pension liability and whether it provides more scope for borrowing.
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  34. Spot on. Unless Labour wake up and deal with this they are doomed to failure, and are well on course at present.
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  35. Very good and sensible. There is also the option of a wealth tax. The Wealth Tax Commission estimated that a one off 1% charge on net assets over £500k could raise £260bn over a 5 year period. Another option is that we get extra funding by giving the elderly a healthcare loan, akin to a student loan, which is either repaid from their estate upon death or is written off.
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  36.  @GreenLarsen  Absolutely. That was my understanding as well.
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  37.  @adenwellsmith6908  I know what you mean . Theresa May said that there was "no magic money tree" then covid came along and we managed to conjure up £450bn.
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  38.  @adenwellsmith6908  Government mismanagement and policy.
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  39. I just wish that Labour politicians were capable of articulating some of this. Even on media shows such as Question Time when Lobby group representatives from the likes of TaxPayers Alliance, IEA, ERG etc have appeared and have spouted their nonsense other panel members interventions and responses have been feeble at best.
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  40. It would be nice if we could all be able to say that at least we tried to leave this world in a better place when we left than when we joined it but it appears that not everyone shares that viewpoint. Many are just on the take personally and I suspect that thought process never crosses their mind. And what about our politicians? What about the likes of Cameron and Johnson, have they succeeded so far? I suspect not and when they have gone, their remaining legacy will be Brexit and the damage that caused.
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  41.  @livvielov  I really don't know why you are focusing on pensions.
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  42. Completely agree except that I think it has to be a two stage process with stage 1 being a vote for PR through tactical voting. At present that excludes Labour and the Conservatives. Before the election Starmer was giving indications that he would go for PR but quickly reneged on that after the election.
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  43.  @sean8514  And becoming increasingly divided, but after Brexit and the election of Johnson in 2019, isn't the UK going the same way?
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  44.  @jmshrrsn  It's a massive gamble by the American people. I really hope that I am wrong but I feel that this could even be a landmark event towards the beginning of the end for all of us. It is that significant.
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  45. Yes, wealth inequality in the UK is the most fundamental economic problem facing the UK.This is widely recognised yet Reeves is doing nothing about it.
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  46.  @physiocrat7143  I don't know where you get that from. Murphy, like many others in the UK, including myself, want to see a properly functioning economy. We will not get that until this major problem is solved.
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  47. Tax is suffocating? Bloke is a crank? Retired accountant who blogs 24/7? And he wants to pay more tax? Really?
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  48.  @kwakkers68  I didn't really want to take the military perspective, but as I've mentioned it, it is a real problem worldwide. The essence of the problem is that all countries place leadership in an individual, and it just doesn't work. Too often leaders are unpredictable, they push the boundaries of their appointment, they mislead and quite frankly are often dangerous. I believe that unless this changes then at some point in the not too distant future, we are finished. It might be deliberate and it could be a nuclear accident (particularly if AI is used). Personally, I would rather see leadership by a small cross party group of MPs. They would probably appointment their own chairperson and spokesperson and probably use far more civil servant expertise than is the case at present. Elections ideally would be annual with voting online (much like filing a Tax Return). Voting intentions could even be set up ass a standing order for those less engaged in politics. Annual elections would help to fine tune the make up of the leadership group on a regular basis without the crazy swings and short-termism that we see at present in politics.
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  49. This is a problem faced by much of the Western world. The wealthy may go but many of their assets remain and that's what we need to focus on. We need to identify the ownership and tax residence of all significant assets in the UK. If ownership is in a tax haven then we should tax those assets and similarly if ownership can't be identified. Interestingly the papers today are suggesting that Spain will start taxing Spanish properties owned by non EU residents by up to 100%.
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  50.  @corvus1238  I think you downplay the role that Musk will have in British politics.
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