The protests by farmers about the prices they receive for milk are symptomatic of the unrealistic expectations which are held by farmers in general. They have become dependent on subsidies to such an extent that many of them have ceased to prepare budgets or ensure a profitable market for their produce. The number of dairy […]
The Cannibalistic Way to Make Money
The foundations for a new kind of economy are being laid, but the “new normal” bears little resemblance to what is being discussed by the “authorised” opinion makers. Debate still rotates around the theories that were tested to destruction in the run-up to the 2008 débâcle. The black hole in public knowledge will lead to […]
EU’s biggest Ponzi scheme
The Greek tragedy should be studied for what it tells us about the way governments administer affairs in the EU countries. The policies favoured by the troika of creditors are worse than the deal offered by highway robbers. The deal offered by robbers had a pay-off of sorts: “Your money or your life”. But the […]
Towards a New Financial Architecture
David Cameron thinks he won the UK General Election on May 7. He didn’t. The people won – assuming that they now use the political space that has been created for the reformist forces to put to good use over the next five years. If the Labour Party had taken power in Westminster, probably with […]
Osborne’s Legacy: The Ladder of Despair
George Osborne is selling the Conservative Party as saviour of the British economy. And yet, his swansong as Chancellor of the Exchequer was a catalogue of disasters that smooth the way for the Crash of 2019. In his budget speech on March 18, Osborne made sweeping claims. Every one of them will be falsified over […]
Politics: What’s the Big Idea?
All over Europe, small parties have sprung up to register discontent with austerity. People are fed up, and they are determined to voice their opposition to mainstream politicians who have no solutions to persistent problems. Syriza was the first to make the breakthrough, but the people of Greece will end up realising that the party-from-nowhere […]
Stiglitz needs to speak up
The people of Greece did everyone in Europe a favour when they threw out the last government and gave the thumbs down to the austerity imposed by the guardians of financial orthodoxy. They opened up the political space for a democratic debate on the future of the strife-torn continent. The politicians failed to grasp that opportunity: they […]
The Route to Virtuous Growth
Britain now enters a period of severe political instability. People will pay a heavy price, if the politicians don’t sort themselves out quickly. The General Election in May promises to create deadlock, with neither the Tories nor Labour securing a popular mandate to govern. Horse-trading with the Scot Nats and/or Ukip is creating the uncertainty […]
Telegraph rates campaign
The disgraceful way in which the media participates in mind-manipulation, when it comes to economic policy, is illustrated by the campaign being run by the London-based Daily Telegraph. Its Editors hate the tax known as “business rates” – the levy on commercial property. They want the tax “reformed”. They give huge space to critics of […]
What’s it all about, Alfie?
Politicians were quick to adopt the term “Great Recession” coined by economists who refused to use the D word – depression. Six years after the beginning of the crisis, Christine Lagarde warns that “we see continued weakness in the global economy. Countries are still dealing with the legacies of the crisis, including high debt burdens […]