As discussed in Part 2, the transition to a low-carbon economy is a massive task requiring extensive government intervention. In the recent leadership campaign, Jeremy Corbyn promised to “promote the growth of over 200 ‘local energy companies’” and to “support the development of 1,000 community energy co-operatives”. Presumably by “local energy companies” he is referring […]
Posts under ‘Economy’
A 21st Century Energy Policy, Part 3: The Institutions to Make it Happen
Feb 28th, 2017 by Chris MacMackin.
The Future of Work
Feb 24th, 2017 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Having a wee break from blogging tonight. Here’s a piece I did last week for work on, um, the future of work. As it was for the powers that be I had to tone down and be less forthright. Still, writing for different audiences is good discipline … There has been a lot of concern […]
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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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Instead of “trickle down” economics, why not “bubble up”?
Feb 16th, 2017 by Bryan Gould.Thomas Piketty is a French economist who recently took the economics world by storm. He demonstrated that, in a modern, “free-market” economy, growing inequality is inevitable, unless we do something deliberately to counteract it. Piketty shows that, over hundreds of years and in technologically advanced economies in particular, the return on capital will always rise faster […]
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United we stand? The Southern Rail dispute and the unions
Feb 15th, 2017 by George Waterhouse.117 years ago, my great-great grandad, president of the Amalgamated Society of railway servants (ASRS), sat down in a meeting between the executives of ASRS and the Associated Society of locomotive engineers and firemen (ASLEF) to discuss federation. Had they succeeded in establishing unity between the rail unions back then, I might not be writing […]
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Let’s Unite the left for Len
Feb 10th, 2017 by Andy Newman.Even taking account the advantages of incumbency, the momentum, dynamism and confidence of Len McCluskey’s campaign to be re-elected General Secretary of Unite stands in sharp contrast to the lacklustre efforts of the right wing challenger, Gerard Coyne, and the amateur hour theatrics of the “grassroots” candidate, Ian Allinson. What stands out is not only that Len can point […]
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This is no ‘Project Fear’ – our Brexit economy is faltering
Feb 7th, 2017 by Tom O Leary.The UK economy has slowed since the Brexit vote. This is long before Brexit actually takes place, which will cause a further sharp deceleration in the economy and significantly lower living standards. The latest GDP data have been widely hailed as confounding the authors of ‘Project Fear’, including the former Chancellor George Osborne. His talk […]
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Community need to face the consequences
Feb 1st, 2017 by Andy Newman.The criterion for success for any trade union campaign is whether or not it leaves organisation weaker or stronger. A hundred years ago, the German socialist, Rosa Luxemburg, observed that trade union organisation was a “labour of Sisyphus”, comparing it to the mythological figure who was doomed to an eternity of pushing a rock up […]
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It’s time for the Left to take defence policy seriously
Jan 31st, 2017 by John Penney.The recent, empty point-scoring, hoo hah over the misfiring UK Trident missile test, and the flag-waving, posturing in Parliament and the mass media last year over the, up to £100bn, renewal of the Trident ballistic missile system, has highlighted yet again the ideological vulnerability of the Labour Left on defence issues. Quite understandably, the left, […]
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How we adapt to the new Trade Union Act
Jan 30th, 2017 by Andy Newman.The Trade Union Act 2016 comes into effect for all industrial disputes where the ballot is to commence after 1st March 2017. Due to a well coordinated campaign by trade unions and the Labour Party, much of it lobbying behind the scenes, many of the more draconian aspects that had originally been proposed by the Conservative Government […]
