Laughing All The Way to The Bank: Bank Profits Soar While Taxes stay Low
23 February, 2024This week the Big Four UK banks — Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays and HSBC — announced pre-tax profits of £44.3 billion - an average of 66 per cent higher than their profits in 2018. Barclays had the highest percentage increase in profits, which have risen 88 per cent, from £3.5 billion to £6.6 billion. The bank’s [...]
Targeting monetary policy to avoid boom and bust and support the green transition
31 January, 2024January 31, 2024 As calls grow for the Bank of England to cut interest rates, there is an opportunity for a more targeted response that could avoid repeating the mistakes of the past while supporting a fairer and more sustainable economy. As inflation finally falls and the economic outlook continues to darken, speculation has shifted [...]
A revolution in financial regulation?
29 January, 2024January 29, 2024 There is a quiet revolution happening in financial regulation - could it be the key to dealing with the shadow banking problem and greening the financial system all at once? As has been recently profiled by Izabella Kaminska for POLITICO, recent banking crises and the shadow banking problem are fuelling a revolution [...]
Positive Money partners with Digital Pound Foundation to raise awareness of the social and economic benefits of digital cash
10 January, 2024January 10, 2024 We are delighted to announce that Positive Money has joined the Digital Pound Foundation (DPF) as a strategic partner. The DPF is an independent organisation working with a variety of stakeholders and participants towards the implementation of a well-designed Digital Pound. Positive Money and the DPF will collaborate on areas of mutual [...]
How much could a windfall tax on banks raise?
10 August, 2023August 10, 2023 Momentum is growing for a windfall tax on banks in the UK, with Italy this week following Spain in adopting one. But there is uncertainty about how such a tax would work and how much it could raise. We explore a few potential options. Since last year, we have been advocating for [...]
Leading thinkers call for more inclusive public conversation on the future of money
3 July, 202330 June 2023 34 leading thinkers from civil society and academia have signed a joint statement organised by Positive Money in response to the government’s digital pound consultation, calling for a “genuinely inclusive national conversation on the future of money.” Noting that “a public digital pound could represent the most profound shift in the monetary [...]
An opportunity to stop the privatisation of money with a digital pound
24 May, 2023May 24, 2023 The government’s consultation on a digital pound is ultimately a debate over whether the public should have access to publicly issued money, or whether we should only use privately issued money. Positive Money believes money is a public good, and we will be supporting the introduction of digital cash alongside physical cash [...]
Fresh crises reinforce the need for a public banking system
23 March, 2023March 23, 2023 The current banking crisis puts the nature of the banking system into sharp relief, and forces us to ask what banking is for and how it can best serve society. It reveals how our money and payments infrastructure are public goods, and should be treated as such through a public banking system. [...]
March 2023 interest rate hike: Positive Money response
23 March, 2023March 23, 2023 Responding to the Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates by a further 0.25% to 4.25%, Fran Boait, executive director of research and campaign group Positive Money said: “With the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and rescue of Credit Suisse we are beginning to truly see the impact of central [...]