RichardJMurphy

RichardJMurphy, 1 hour ago to random

Quantitative tightening will thwart any economic plans Rachel Reeves has unless she challenges it head on https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/08/quantitative-tightening-will-thwart-any-economic-plans-rachel-reeves-has-unless-she-challenges-it-head-on/ Rachel Reeves has a choice. She can try to deliver he economic policy with both hands tied behind her back by the Bank of England, who will do all they can to undermine it, or she can take on the Bank. It's her decision, but there is only one way she can win.

RichardJMurphy, 2 hours ago to random

Since Reeves and the Tories have a shared economic DNA, how different can she ever be? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/08/since-reeves-and-the-tories-have-a-shared-economic-dna-how-different-can-she-ever-be/ The FT has just realised that Rachel Reeves is offering Tory economic policy. They're a bit slow off the mark, but the conclusion is unsurprising. When all of Reeves' economic beliefs coincide with those of Tory Chancellors, that's the inevitable outcome.

RichardJMurphy, 2 hours ago to random

Why we have a national debt https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/08/why-we-have-a-national-debt/ Ignore politicians: we need a national debt. Not only is the national debt not a burden - or even something that will ever need repayment - but its existence if fundamental in the management of the economy. Everyone needs to understand this.

RichardJMurphy, 1 day ago to random

The Greens were the biggest winners in the local elections, so why aren’t they getting fair air time? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/07/the-greens-were-the-biggest-winners-in-the-local-elections-so-why-arent-they-getting-fair-air-time/
Proportionately, the Greens won most seats at the recent local elections, but they are denied airtime, and we get Reform instead. Why?

RichardJMurphy, 3 days ago to random

Starmer is setting out to be a man who does not rise to the challenges https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/05/starmer-is-setting-out-to-be-a-man-who-does-not-rise-to-the-challenges/ Keir Starmer says Labour is for everyone - so long as they’re part of an aspirational family that loves their country and who appears indifferent to the environment, growing international isolation, fascism and inequality. What about the rest? Who is looking after that majority?

RichardJMurphy, 4 days ago to random

Labour is not as out of touch with reality as the Tories, but it has only a vague relationship with it https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/04/labour-is-not-as-out-of-touch-with-reality-as-the-tories-but-it-has-only-a-vague-relationship-with-it/ The Tories have been annihilated in the local elections, but if Labour thinks it has won hearts and minds, it might be just as deluded as to the political reality of this moment as are those Tories who still think they might form the net government.

RichardJMurphy, 5 days ago to random

The SNP needs leaders who do not embrace neoliberalism https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/03/the-snp-needs-leaders-who-do-not-embrace-neoliberalism/.
The new SNP leadership's dedication to profoundly conventional, neoliberal, thinking would be a major cause of concern for anyone who wants that country to move towards independence - because that thinking would make that a disaster.

RichardJMurphy, 5 days ago to random

We need the water companies of England to be nationalised https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/03/we-need-the-water-companies-of-england-to-be-nationalised/
Labour has now recognised it needs to nationalise railways. The case for nationalising water is even stronger.

RichardJMurphy, 6 days ago to random

There is going to be no growth in the UK. Welcome to a world of Labour austerity and the resulting downward spiral of gloom and failure. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/02/there-is-going-to-be-no-growth-in-the-uk-welcome-to-a-world-of-labour-austerity-and-the-resulting-downward-spiral-of-gloom-and-failure/

RichardJMurphy, 6 days ago to random

Would you like to see your GP, or know that the government is restricting your access using cast-iron fiscal rules? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/02/would-you-like-to-see-your-gp-or-know-that-the-government-is-restricting-your-access-using-cast-iron-fiscal-rules/
Thousands of former NHS GPs are now unemployed because the government says it cannot afford to pay them. Meanwhile, there is a massive health crisis in the country. What matters more? Balancing books or saving lives? Apparently, both the Tories and Labour think it's balancing the books.

RichardJMurphy, 6 days ago to random

Advertising is designed to make you miserable https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/02/advertising-is-designed-to-make-you-miserable/. It is intended to make us doubt our self-worth. Subtly, but persuasively, it tries to put us in debt. And all too often, what it's promoting does nothing for our well-being. So, shouldn't we be taking steps to control the harm that it causes?

RichardJMurphy, 6 days ago to random

Pragmatic approaches to taxing income from wealth more can always raise more money than a wealth tax https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/02/pragmatic-approaches-to-taxing-income-from-wealth-more-can-always-raise-more-money-than-a-wealth-tax/ Wealth taxes seem like a great idea to those who have never had to work out how to collect them. Those who have done so know they are a potential nightmare. That is why, pragmatically, we need to tax the income and gains derived from wealth a lot more before we ever think about taxing wealth. We’d get a lot more money that way.

RichardJMurphy, 7 days ago to random

Labour Party? Pull the other one…. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/01/labour-party-pull-the-other-one/. It's Workers Day, and so news has leaked that Labour is planning to backtrack on its plans to reinforce worker's rights. Labour's aim is to appease the business community. This really is now a Labour Party In Name Only (LINO).

RichardJMurphy, 7 days ago to random

Inflation always goes away https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/01/inflation-always-goes-away/. If the Bank of England were to be believed the only reason inflation has gone away is because they have taken action to control it. But data since 1200 (that's 800+ years ago) shows that after a bout of inflation, prices always either fall or the rate of inflation at least returns to normal. And for most of that period, no central bank did anything to control inflation. So why should we believe what the Bank of England is saying now?

RichardJMurphy, 7 days ago to random

The US is tottering on the brink of becoming a fascist state https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/01/the-us-is-tottering-on-the-brink-of-becoming-a-fascist-state/. Trump has been fined for being in contempt of court, but that is his plan. He wants to bring US courts under his direct control, ending any veneer of democracy. Is the world ready for a fascist USA?

RichardJMurphy, 7 days ago to random

What if Labour win? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/05/01/what-if-labour-win/. Labour’s only plan is to win the election. But, if it does so with a big majority, as expected, that is exactly when its problems will begin, and when left-of-centre ideas will be needed to get it out of the mess it might be in.

RichardJMurphy, 8 days ago to random

Why monopolies are harmful https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/30/why-monopolies-are-harmful/. Monopolies exist when one or a very few companies or organizations control a market and can exploit consumers as a result. The modern economy is riddled with monopolies, many of which are very powerful. Until governments are willing to stand up to them we are all at risk of being ripped off.

RichardJMurphy, 8 days ago to random

The mess that the SNP is in might be an opportunity for the independence movement to get its act together, but it might take time for that to become apparent https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/30/the-mess-that-the-snp-is-in-might-be-an-opportunity-for-the-independence-movement-to-get-its-act-together-but-it-might-take-time-for-that-to-become-apparent/. The Scottish independence cause was always going to be a long game. The SNP’s problems, as it gets over the toxic legacy of Sturgeon, might eventually look like a blip on that path. In the meantime just what independence means has to be worked out by those who support it.

RichardJMurphy, 9 days ago to random

Nationalising Thames Water will not in any way threaten the stability of UK financial markets https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/29/nationalising-thames-water-will-not-in-any-way-threaten-the-stability-of-uk-financial-markets/. Treasury sourced rumours that financial markets that nationalising Thames Water might cause massive upset in UK financial markets are deliberate misinformation intended to reinforce the Bank of England's policy of excessive interest rates.

RichardJMurphy, 9 days ago to random

It really is time that politicians took note of modern monetary theory https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/29/it-really-is-time-that-politicians-took-note-of-modern-monetary-theory/ Modern monetary theory is the only credible alternative economic theory challenging the neoliberal consensus right now. When that neoliberal consensus has so obviously failed, why aren't politicians taking note?

RichardJMurphy, 9 days ago to random

Tax does not pay for government spending https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/29/tax-does-not-pay-for-government-spending/. Probably the biggest challenge to understanding how the economics of governments really works comes from the need to understand that governments of the sort we have in the UK are not funded by taxes. They are funded by central bank money creation. Tax exists to control inflation. Until it's appreciated that spending creates taxation and not that tax funds spending, nothing else about how the government works makes sense.

RichardJMurphy, 9 days ago to random

The Premier League is an oligopolist erecting effective barriers to market entry. What is anyone going to do about it? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/29/the-premier-league-is-an-oligopolist-erecting-effective-barriers-to-market-entry-what-is-anyone-going-to-do-about-it/. The last thing that the top tier of English football wants is fair competition - as this season's Premier League table very clearly evidences.

RichardJMurphy, 9 days ago to random

The biggest threat to the UK’s borders comes from climate change https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/28/the-biggest-threat-to-the-uks-borders-comes-from-climate-change/. It would really help if we could have politicians who could think beyond their need for instant gratification right now

RichardJMurphy, 9 days ago to random

Dan Poulter MP’s defection to Labour looks like self preservation, cynical manoeuvring and keeping some doors just a little bit open https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/28/dan-poulter-mps-defection-to-labour-looks-like-self-preservation-cynical-manoeuvring-and-keeping-some-doors-just-a-little-bit-open/. When politics is reduced to the hope that someone will still have coffee with you when you return to work in the NHS, of course you will quit the Tories.

RichardJMurphy, 11 days ago to random

Labour says it is going to nationalise Brtain's railways Its plans make sense - as far as they go. But, like so much that it does, this plan does not go far enough. It should also be nationalising the supply of future rolling stock for our railways - and be building more of that; rolling stock now if we are to have the system that we really need and can afford.
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/04/27/labours-plan-for-rail-nationalisation-make-sense-but-do-not-go-far-enough/