New report: The Future of Cash
20 March, 2018With the UK at risk of losing thousands of ATMs, new Positive Money research recommends that the Government gives regulators the role of protecting access to cash, and the power to stop ATM closures. Over three quarters (77%) of British adults class access to free ATMs as ‘essential’, according to results from a poll commissioned [...]
Bank of England inflation report: our reaction
8 February, 2018Responding to the Bank of England’s inflation report, Fran Boait, Executive Director of Positive Money, said: “The Bank of England is leading with the message that “the economy now needs a little less support.” But the question is what parts of the economy should be supported - financial markets or the rest of the economy? [...]
Competing visions for our financial system after Brexit
1 February, 2018What should be the future of monetary policy and financial regulation after Brexit? It’s set to be a fiercely contested battle over the coming months, with two competing visions of how our economic institutions should evolve. On the one hand, a House of Lords report out this week advances the idea that UK regulators, including [...]
‘Escaping Growth Dependency’ report launched in parliament
18 January, 2018MPs discuss the role of the money and banking system in fuelling climate change through excessive debt LONDON, 18th January 2018 - Research and campaign group Positive Money today launched a new report which sets out why governments are pursuing limitless economic growth despite clear environmental constraints, at an event in Parliament. The report, titled [...]
Philip Hammond’s other deficit
23 November, 2017Philip Hammond delivered yesterday’s budget in the context of the worst decade for real wage growth in living memory, and at time when households are borrowing at near-record levels just to make ends meet. As always, the Chancellor justified his plans by pointing to the government’s progress towards eliminating the budget deficit. But in doing [...]
No rate rise without a pay rise
1 November, 2017The markets believe it. As the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates on Thursday morning for the first time in more than a decade, the pound has climbed steadily against the dollar. Yet it’s unprecedented, and extremely risky, to raise rates at a time when real wages are falling. With many households [...]
Poll shows 85% of MPs don’t know where money comes from
27 October, 2017The results of a new poll of MPs reveal a worrying lack of understanding of the UK’s money and banking system across the House of Commons. The poll finds that only 15% of MPs are aware of how most money is created in the modern economy. We commissioned polling company, Dods, to give a cross-section [...]
Why diversity matters at the Bank of England
25 October, 2017The Bank of England’s mission is to ‘promote the good of the people of the United Kingdom’, but it won’t be able to do so until it is more representative of the population at large. That’s why we’re supporting the Treasury Select Committee’s call for the Chancellor to appoint a more diverse range of candidates [...]
Party people
11 October, 2017Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn might propose radically different solutions, but their speeches at this year’s party conferences showed a common understanding of the fundamental challenges facing the UK’s economy. The Prime Minister acknowledged that we’ve experienced nearly a decade of low growth, stagnating wages and pay restraint. She warned that the boom in the [...]