The Conservative Party is structurally stupid. As a force the Gods of social dynamics have condemned to a slow and unlamented decline, so madness inevitably manifests itself in all manner of horrible pathologies. A more signal example of this is George Osborne’s speech, made yesterday evening, basically outlawing the state’s ability to run a budget surplus. It […]
Posts under ‘Public Spending’
Only Tory structural stupidity can explain Osborne’s budget surplus law
Jun 11th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.
Labour’s intellectual straitjacket – who’ll lead us out of the economic cul-de-sac?
Jun 11th, 2015 by Bryan Gould.Labour’s leadership contenders are constantly asked, by party members and commentators alike, whether they propose to move the party leftwards or rightwards. Few seem willing or able to answer that question other than in the terms in which it is put. They thereby seem to accept the contention that all of politics can be encapsulated […]
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Osbornomics goes toxic
Jun 11th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.Osborne’s Mansion House speech last night reverts to the old-fashioned economics of the governor of the bank of England in the 1920-30s, Montague Collet Norman, which led to the General Strike of 1926 and the Wall Street crash of 1929, followed by the desperate misery and hand-to-mouth subsistence of the 1930s which was so etched […]
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Outside the Westminster bubble, people are mobilising against austerity
Jun 11th, 2015 by Steve Turner.Within 72 hours of the Tories forming a majority in Parliament it became crystal clear they were salivating at the opportunity to further impose their political austerity agenda for another five years. Attacks on freedom of speech, protest, the Human Rights Act and the right to strike came swiftly. Threshold limits on industrial action ballots […]
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What can we expect from renewed austerity?
Jun 1st, 2015 by Michael Burke.The new Tory government will renew its austerity offensive shortly with the publication of an ‘emergency Budget’ on July 8. It is simple to demonstrate that the previous austerity programme caused the economy to grind to a halt (and with it the improvement in government finances). Supporters of austerity like to claim that austerity led […]
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Did New Labour spend too much?
May 24th, 2015 by Michael Burke.It is not sufficient for big business to have secured an election victory and an overall Parliamentary majority for the Tory Party. It is also necessary to intervene in the Labour Party to ensure that its leadership also conforms to big business interests too. This currently takes the form of candidates in the leadership contest […]
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Putting people first : Venezuela builds 700,000 new homes
May 18th, 2015 by Matt Willgress.Despite facing many difficulties, Venezuela’s latest achievements in housing are a timely reminder of why our solidarity with Venezuela remains so important, writes Matt Willgress Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro recently inaugurated the 700,000th house built under a state-led initiative called the Great Housing Mission to provide housing to all Venezuelans, continuing the impressive results of a […]
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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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The Tories won a tactical victory – not an endorsement of austerity
May 14th, 2015 by Mike Hedges.The general election result was not an endorsement of austerity but was a stunning Tory tactical success. The Tories adopted a policy of defending key marginal seats against Labour and UKIP and attacking in Liberal Democrat seats. The strategy worked and lead to a Tory majority government for the first time since 1992. This was […]
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If Osborne cuts £30bn as promised, he can’t achieve his deficit reduction targets
May 12th, 2015 by Michael Meacher.Osborne is now mooting an emergency budget within the next few weeks to lay the foundations for the £30bn fiscal consolidation (aka cuts) to be announced in the autumn spending review. It is made up of £12bn welfare cuts, £13bn reductions in departmental expenditure (aka cuts in public services), and £5bn in tax avoidance measures. […]
