Andy Lloyd

"We’re told tax is a curse and even “theft.” That’s wrong"

I’ll just leave my Austerity narrative flowchart here in case anyone needs to persuade a Lefty pundit/politician not to try to compete with the Right on debt hawkishness. Remember, all routes down that path lead to austerity.

Brilliant, love this

7. Real resources matter.

The government is constrained by the availability of real resources and its ability to mobilise them. “Anything we can do, we can afford.” JM Keynes. #MMT

6. The effect: depoliticising economics.

By framing the state as a household, questions about distribution, power, and ownership sound like questions about accounting. Instead of “what kind of economy do we want?” people are encouraged to ask “how can we afford it?” #MMT

5. It separated monetary and fiscal power.

The 1970s inflation crisis was used to justify giving central banks “independence.” Entrenching the idea that the BoE must be neutral and technocratic, while politicians must “find the money” through taxes or borrowing. #MMT

4. And prioritises the interests of financial markets.

From the ‘80s onward, the Treasury and BoE were reorganised to make bond markets the apparent source of public finance.

In reality, markets depend on the government’s money creation. The illusion of dependence shifts power toward finance. #MMT

3. It legitimises austerity and privatisation.

Once the state is said to be financially constrained it justifies cutting services and welfare, paving the way for private capital to take over state functions and allowing politicians to claim prudence for shrinking the state. #MMT

2. It imposes artificial scarcity on the public sector.

By insisting that the government must first collect taxes or borrow before it can spend, policymakers created a narrative of constraint. That narrative limits public spending. #MMT

UK borrowing reaches five-year high for September at £20.2bn Rising debt interest and welfare costs push public finances deeper into red before Rachel Reeves’s budget

1. UK borrowing reaches five-year high for September at £20.2bn www.theguardian.com/business/202...

The purpose of making the government behave like a household is political and ideological, not technical and neutral. #MMT @theguardian.com

View from the Malvern hills towards the Wych cutting.

Views from the Malvern hills towards British Camp

3.Scare stories keep rentier monopolies safe. The lesson from Truss isn’t “never upset markets,” it’s: design policy coherently, anchor it in real resources, and stop giving finance a veto over democracy.

www.cliffordchance.com/content/dam/...

2.She also waves the Truss fiasco like a ghost story: “don’t upset the markets.” This is how the soft left narrows debate — markets as weather, government as powerless. In truth, the state creates & backstops markets.

I’ve seen despair at the Labour conference, but Starmer’s battle for Britain’s soul is one he can still win | Polly Toynbee The government’s fall in popularity has affected party morale, but there are signs that taking the fight to Farage can provide a much-needed spark, asks Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

1.Polly Toynbee says there’s “no cash” to renationalise water or rail. But you don’t need piles of cash — the state issues securities. Nationalisation is a balance-sheet swap, not a cash-dump.
🔗 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
@theguardian.com
@andyburnham.bsky.social
@zackpolanski.bsky.social

Oddly @theguardian.com seems to think the coincidence excusable. Odd for such a liberal minded paper.

Labour MP says Starmer’s ‘island of strangers’ warning over immigration mimics scaremongering of far right – UK politics live

@theguardian.com suggests similarities to Enoch Powell’s language is a coincidence but the effect is much the same.

Stand up for trans rights 🏳️‍⚧️

Join me and @GoodLawProject and help us fight the Supreme Court’s harmful decision:https://goodlawproject.org/s/c41bb8

The real problem is ideology.

Mainstream economics treats money as scarce and “market discipline” as sacred—even in a country with a permanent trade deficit.

Our pockets are finite. The government’s aren’t. The real constraint isn’t money. It’s the people in charge.

#Austerity #PublicSpending

The Chancellor could stop paying interest on bank reserves—a tweak that could save £30 billion over two years, says the IFS:
theguardian.com/p/z4j3p

The ECB already uses tiered rates. We’re handing billions to banks while pretending we can’t afford warm homes or decent care. #Economics

Britain must see being ditched by Donald Trump for what it really is: a great opportunity | Clive Lewis A line has been crossed. There is a bold way to think again about our defence, social spending and foreign policy, says Labour MP Clive Lewis

This: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Spot on. The blind pursuit of GDP growth is a death spiral for the planet. Converting nature into profit might boost short-term numbers, but it accelerates ecological collapse.