• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Go to Positive Money Europe

Positive Money

Making money and banking work for society

  • About us
    • Our vision
    • Who we are
    • History & highlights
    • Contact us
    • There are currently no vacancies available
    • In the media
    • Funding & Annual Reports
  • What we do
    • Educate & empower
    • Research and Policy
    • Campaign & local groups
    • Influence decision makers
    • In the media
    • International Movement
    • Events
  • Resources
    • Videos
    • Publications
    • Local group resources
    • Lobby your MP
    • Organise an Event
    • Policy resources
    • Shop
  • Press
  • Blog
  • Donate
  • Positive Money Europe

It's Official: There Is a Money Tree

by Positive Money

George Osborne, the British Chancellor, has publicly disagreed with his prime minister on a fundamental issue of monetary policy – in an official Treasury report, reads an article in Huffington Post on 24th March 2013, written by Ann Pettifor, Director of PRIME Policy Research in Macroeconomics.

Here is a short extract:

Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 16.45.37The prime minister recently argued that “There’s no magic money tree” to fund what he called “this ever more wishful borrowing and spending”.

But his Chancellor, George Osborne, disagrees.

The disagreement is aired in one of the documents tabled by the Chancellor on budget day. It’s titled: “Review of the Monetary Policy Framework.” – and is tucked away in the bundle of documents issued last Wednesday.

In paragraph 3.34, the Treasury makes plain that the monetary authorities could finance increased government spending on infrastructure “through the creation of money“.

There is a money tree, and it’s called the Bank of England.

Here is how the Chancellor explains Bank of England financing of public investment in his Review of the Monetary Policy Framework:

“central banks could go beyond the range of unconventional instruments deployed … in advanced economies since the 2008-09 financial crisis. For example, it is theoretically possible for monetary authorities to finance fiscal deficits through the creation of money. In theory, this could allow governments to increase spending or reduce taxation without raising corresponding financing from the private sector.”

 

You can read the whole article here.

 

Bank of England & QE, In the News

Positive Money

Primary Sidebar

Get our latest campaign updates

Recent Posts

  • Quantitative easing “turbocharges” inequality: our evidence to the House of Lords
  • Surprise for Sunak: 60,000 demand climate action on frontpage of his local paper
  • QE or not to QE? Soaring inequality shows it’s time for a new macroeconomic approach
  • Update from Chair of the Board on Interim Leadership
  • Why GameStop reveals the flaws of big finance

Footer

Follow us on social media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.


Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions


Positive Money is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales. Registered number 07253015.
Registered office: 307 Davina House, 137-149 Goswell Road, London EC1V 7ET.


Positive Money Europe