14 Comments
Feb 9·edited Feb 9

"Unless you have a money printing press in your house, your household budget is almost entirely unlike a national economy" ... Another comparison one can make: The government being in debt to its own citizens is analogous to one household member owing money to another household member, say, the children owing money to the parents. Which is totally different to credit card debt.

Expand full comment
Feb 9·edited Feb 9

Another thing one can say: Government debt is citizen wealth. More generally, whether debt is good or bad depends (not only but also) on who is the creditor.

Expand full comment

I just found https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/02/10/uk-politicians-credit-card-con-trick-on-the-people-of-this-country/ Richard Murphy is always a good source for this kind of stuff ...

Expand full comment

So pertinent and so necessary. Why do we allow politicians and the MSM to gaslight us over how the economy works? Why aren’t we asking where growth is going to come from if the government isn’t going to spend more into the economy? Why isn’t MSM pointing out that the biggest and surest generator of private investment is government investment in new technology and new infrastructure? Major leaps forward in technological change (mobile phone networks, the internet for example) are facilitated by major government investment. That’s simply a fact. And why isn’t every schoolchild taught that a government with its own sovereign currency can never run short of spending power? If the government doesn’t spend, we fail to mobilise the resources the economy has available to it, and if we fail to do that, our collective standard of living will be lower. Why isn’t the discussion framed around how our resources can best be employed to create a better life for everyone? Because it breaks the basic tenet of capitalism, which is that wealth should become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, while the many get poorer.

Expand full comment

Starmer is a Tory plant, no doubt in my mind.

Expand full comment

All part of the plan towards 'building back better'...

Expand full comment

The cause of the problem is also the solution to the problem is quite the political argument

Expand full comment

Right on man. Will share.

Expand full comment

Anti-Socialist and Liberal policies appeal to the centre ground. More importantly, they appeal to the press and the BBC. Compare Starmer's reception in the Guardian and ton the BBC with the mauling given to Corbyn and Mcdonald. Startmer has lost the left (apart fro a few "Labour at all costs" die-hards. He needs the cnrte ground and a positive representation in the press and on the box. He has broken every promise he made when he stood for party leadership but Animal Farm Benjamins are few and far between. It is now safe for him to recycle Cameron's slogans because we lack the critical press which should be pointing this out.

Expand full comment

So who issues the government’s credit card? The Bank of England? Which is wholly owned by the government? The Treasury? Which is also the government. So the government itself issues its metaphorical credit card. And who sets the credit limit? Again, the government itself. Who else?

Expand full comment

Clearly all main political parties are influenced more by their dubious donors and sponsors than the people they are employed to represent. Politics is bland by design, the more apathy the better. Most Western nations are suffering the same. As anyone thought why major movie studios all produce distopian futuristic stories? To get us used to the future we face. Watch They Live and instead of aliens think mega corporations and welcome to your kids / grandkids futures. Aren't you proud?

Expand full comment

It's a fucking metaphor Tom, it's not a literal comparison as well you know. Just as JFK was not from Berlin and King was not retelling his dream from the previous night - they are metaphors. You don't think "maxed out credit card" is a accurate metaphor for government finance, fine nor do I, but accuracy not the point, it's simply painting a picture.

And no using the phrase dose not show "economic illiterate" or trying to "dupe people they believe to be gullible". This is a 'fauls dilemma' logical fallacy, where you put in a entirely bogus choice that limits the choices to make a point. It's logical bollocks of course, because you have not added the far more likely option that it is simply a poor analogy. You use 'fasule dilemmas' all the time in you writing, I think it's sweet, like my 14 year old daughter in her school essays. I am sure she will not be using them in a year or two. Either you use them because you are stupid and don't know any better or you think we are gullible and will not see them, witch is it? (before you point you that the last sentence is a false dilemma, I know, I am being ironic).

Anyway, I hope you are Tom and got over the illness and are in a good place. All the best Sam

Expand full comment

Sorry couple of typos - I hope you are 'well'

Expand full comment