As the Greek crisis unfolds, we are constantly informed by the world’s media that the European power-brokers will agree to a further bail-out only if Greece implements a programme of “reforms”. Most people will see this as confirming their understanding of what the crisis is about. The Greeks, it seems, have mismanaged their economy; so […]
Posts under ‘Public Spending’
Osborne’s budget is not dissimilar to 2010 – it will have the same effects
Jul 10th, 2015 by Michael Burke.Most media coverage of the Budget is predictably sycophantic and wrong. An objective assessment is that the amount of fiscal tightening planned in this Budget is exactly the same as outlined in the June 2010 Budget. The June 2010 Budget planned tightening of £40bn, but £3bn of this was the projected fall in interest payments. […]
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It isn’t a ‘lower tax, higher wage’ economy as Osborne boasts, it’s actually a higher tax, lower wage economy
Jul 10th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.One has to give it to Osborne, he’s extremely good at branding whatever he doesn’t like with a clever, pejorative – but false – jingle. ‘The merry-go-round on welfare’, ‘strivers versus shirkers’, ‘Labour left behind this economic mess’ , and ‘austerity’s painful decisions are the only way to cut the deficit’ immediately spring to mind. […]
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Jeremy Corbyn in his own words
Jun 30th, 2015 by Heiko Khoo.This is how Jeremy Corbyn introduced himself in the Newsnight Labour leadership debate on 17 June: “I was first elected to Parliament 32 years ago, and I’ve spent that time in Parliament representing my constituency and standing up for rights and justice in Britain and all around the world. I believe that is the function of […]
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Pre-budget memo to Osborne: records show austerity won’t cut deficit
Jun 29th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.Osborne’s 8 July budget will be forced through in the teeth of all economic experience. The history of the last 70 years demonstrates one conclusion irrefutably: austerity is the wrong way to cut deficits. After the second world war had dramatically drained Britain’s wealth and left the country with colossal debts amounting to 260% of […]
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Wages, profits & investment In Greece
Jun 28th, 2015 by Michael Burke.The IMF has placed a road-block in the way of a deal with the Greek government and it remains unclear whether any agreement can be reached. The prior agreement which the IMF rejected was itself already very onerous. But the IMF wants to shift the burden of paying for the crisis away from taxes on […]
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Why I went on the anti-austerity march & regret Labour’s leaders weren’t there too
Jun 28th, 2015 by Diane Abbott.Last weekend I attended the huge anti-austerity march and rally organised by the People’s Assembly against Austerity in London. Estimates of the size of the rally varied between 70,000 and more than 150,000. But demonstrators poured into London from all over the country, the march was self-evidently huge and it was definitely a great deal bigger […]
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Tories’ pre-election fantasising comes back to haunt them
Jun 27th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.Northern powerhouse deflates into Northern power-cut. It was so hurriedly propagated by Osborne before the election as portraying the government as dynamic innovators of English devolution, but none of the details had been properly worked through, including the required transport infrastructure as we now know. So the election gimmick, if not evaporated, has dimmed at […]
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The politics of Tory pledge-breaking
Jun 26th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Political gravity is starting to assert itself on the Tories’ ridiculous manifesto. You will recall that this gang of scaremongerers, who spent the entire election trading on economic competence, getting the deficit and public sector debt down, and “strong leadership” promised £28bn in unfunded spending commitments – presumably with the view that they’d never get chance […]
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Try as he may, Osborne cannot “eliminate the deficit”
Jun 17th, 2015 by Ann Pettifor.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 […]
