The Fabian Society invited Nicola Smith of the TUC, Dan Corry – once a Labour government adviser – and me to address their Summer Conference ten days ago. The theme: how can Labour restore its economic credibility with the electorate? The audience was large – about 300 earnest, well-informed and assertive Fabians. The discussion was […]
Global economic crisis: has Labour dodged a bullet?
May 18th, 2015 by Ann Pettifor.While Labour and LibDem activists mourn, and political opportunists seize the moment, is the loss of the election such a bad thing? Might this be a good time to lose an election? I think so. The reasons can be found in both domestic and global financial imbalances, in the advance of de-globalisation trends that are […]
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Euroland’s Utopian foundations shaken by its central bank shirking its duties
Feb 12th, 2015 by Ann Pettifor.The late-night decision on 4 February by the European Central Bank to reject Greek bank collateral for monetary policy operations will, I confidently predict, precipitate not just a run on Greek banks; not just greater price instability across the Eurozone – but ultimately, the collapse of the fantastic machinery that is the ‘self-regulating’ economy of the Eurozone. […]
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Labour views economy through the wrong end of a telescope
Dec 15th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.“There is no path to growth and prosperity for working people which does not tackle the deficit”. So said Ed Milliband last Thursday. The Labour leader has finally succumbed to a baying media pack that insisted he commit himself to an economic goal set by Labour’s opposition: namely “tackling the deficit.” I am no politician, but […]
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Capital, wealth and cannibalism
Nov 29th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.It’s really aggravating when someone can cogently express points that one has gnawed at inchoately for weeks. John Kay’s column in the Financial Times – The capitalists sold the mills and bought all our futures – is one such aggravation, and is superb. Kay deals elegantly with Thomas Piketty’s analysis and the definition and calculation of […]
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Central banking, state capitalism, and the future of the monetary system
Nov 12th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.The role of commercial and central banks in the process of providing credit may seem to be clearly understood by economists, bankers, and policymakers. But there are common misunderstandings about money creation, equilibrium, public money, central banks, and interest rates. The outlook for the global monetary system is not overly optimistic in the absence of […]
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The downward spiral: private debt rising, wages, productivity & inflation falling
Oct 23rd, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.The Bank of England’s Andy Haldane is a fine economist. He occupies an ideology-free zone. This is highly unusual in central bank circles. He made a particularly skilful and nuanced speech last week. Many gushed over it. Gillian Tett of the Financial Times suggested that it was good enough to qualify Haldane as a journalist. […]
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‘Secular stagnation’ is the outcome of deliberate policy — it can (still) be reversed
Oct 16th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.Martin Wolf in the FT today strikes a different direction from those secular stagnaters shepherded by Larry Summers towards the cliff-edge of endless doom. Larry Summers devised and popularised the term, “secular stagnation”. He has a lot to answer for. His misjudgements, poor advice to the Obama administration, and flawed analysis have been catastrophic for the global […]
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Twenty-two days that changed the world
Aug 30th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.Review of The Summit by Ed Conway, published by Little, Brown, 2014 In this carefully researched book Ed Conway tells a gripping human tale about the July 1944 Bretton Woods Conference – “the biggest battle of the Second World War – fought behind closed doors”. He provides remarkable insights into the personal, geopolitical and intellectual dynamics that […]
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Why banks power to create money should be regulated and directed (but not ended)
Apr 27th, 2014 by Ann Pettifor.Ann is author of “Just Money: how society can break the despotic power of finance”, published by Commonwealth, 2014. The Financial Times is hosting a major debate on whether the private banking system should be allowed to continue creating 97% of the credit or money circulating within the economy. Martin Wolf, its respected economics commentator, supports […]
