Make no mistake, yesterday’s increase in interest rates was a big deal. Painful as it might be for a good share of the population, the real point is that the Bank is signalling the end of a particular phase of monetary policy. Since 2010 the counterpart to self-defeating austerity policies has been expansionary monetary policies. […]
The neoliberal road to autocracy – a response to criticism
Aug 23rd, 2017 by Ann Pettifor.In an article “The neoliberal road to autocracy”, published in April 2017 on the website of International Politics and Society, I wrote this: Of all these promises, the one that globalisation’s advocates proclaim most strongly is the fall in poverty worldwide. But in fact the decline in absolute poverty is part of a longer trend […]
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Economic dogma, George Osborne and Grenfell Tower
Jun 27th, 2017 by Ann Pettifor.What has the horror at Grenfell Tower to do with economists? And what have the lives lost at Grenfell Tower to do with the government’s budget deficit? A great deal, I will argue here. When on Twitter a few days ago I raised the issue of the shared responsibility that economists have for this ghastly […]
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The IFS: viewing the economy through wrong end of a telescope
Jun 1st, 2017 by Ann Pettifor.Government debt should not be measured in pounds; it should be measured in GDPs. When GDP is high, so are tax revenues, and so is the ability of the government to repay. – Prof. Roger Farmer, NIESR, November, 2016, Three Facts about Debt and Deficits Today the Institute for Fiscal Studies produced a review of political […]
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Masters of the Universe
Feb 17th, 2017 by Ann Pettifor.This week the New York Times reports that the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank will buy an American private equity firm, Fortress Investment Group, that oversees $70 billion in assets. Fortress specialises in dealing with ‘distressed assets’ – i.e. assets procured cheaply because of forced sales, bankruptcies or other misfortunes. As the NYT explains, Fortress is “an entity […]
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Tory MPs have a nerve to attack the Bank of England
Oct 20th, 2016 by Ann Pettifor.When David Davies MP (not to be confused with cabinet member David Davis MP) tweeted “Mr Carney you are an unelected bank official. Theresa May has got every right to tell you how to do your job!” he was quite wrong. Bank of England officials are civil servants and are given a mandate by Britain’s elected government. […]
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Remembering Mohammed Ali: boxer, philosopher and poet
Jun 8th, 2016 by Ann Pettifor.Ann Pettifor remembers Mohammed Ali with whom she worked in the Jubilee 2000 campaign for cancellation of third world debt Mohammed Ali – ‘The Greatest’ – died this weekend, at the age of 74. With his loss, the world is deprived of the terrific energy of a principled, devout and committed man. A boxer, a philosopher […]
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Why I shall vote to remain in the EU
May 1st, 2016 by Ann Pettifor.Back in 1975 I did not just oppose membership of the EU, I actively campaigned against it. In the 1990s I strongly opposed Britain’s membership of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). My opposition to the Labour leadership’s support for ERM helped ensure that I did not get chosen as Parliamentary candidate at the time. I […]
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The boom, not the slump, is the time for austerity
Mar 15th, 2016 by Ann Pettifor.The following is a letter by Professor John Weeks and Ann Pettifor, published today, 15th March 2016 in The Guardian. Andrew Harrop’s article on John McDonnell’s public borrowing for investment points out its improvement on the chancellor’s deficit obsession (John McDonnell’s new fiscal rule is strong, but it’s no election winner, The Guardian, 11 March). […]
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World finance ministers complacent at threat of a synchronised downturn
Mar 11th, 2016 by Ann Pettifor.“For the proposition that supply creates its own demand, I shall substitute the proposition that expenditure creates its own income” (JM Keynes Collected Writings, Volume XXIX, p81) G20 Finance Ministers met in Huangzhou, China recently and refused appeals from both the IMF and the OECD for “urgent collective policy action” that focussed “fiscal policies on investment-led […]
