Trickle down is, perhaps, the greatest of the lies perpetuated by economists. At its heart is the claim that when states conduit currency into the bank accounts of the very rich, it will – through investment and growth – make its way into the pockets of everyone else. So, for …
Read More »Thatcher’s legacy
Twenty seven years ago today one of Britain’s most successful – and divisive – prime ministers left 10 Downing Street for the last time. In her wake lay the ruins of Britain’s industrial past. Coal, steel, shipbuilding, factory and rail towns had been reduced to a shadow of their former …
Read More »Confidence: why it matters and why it shouldn’t
Business confidence is a big deal for the news editors… particularly when it slumps. This is because – it is widely believed – a fall in business confidence reflects an economic slowdown at best or, worse still, the onset of a new recession. With this in mind, the latest round …
Read More »They promised a small state. They gave us a weak state
While the 2008 financial crash finally exposed the infantile economic theories behind neoliberalism, most of its political claims remain unchallenged. Key among these is the belief that somehow successive neoliberal governments have been “rolling back the state.” Ripping up so-called “red tape,” cutting taxes and providing ready access to finance …
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