Andrew Jackson
A Government is not a household
29 October, 2018Claims of ending austerity ring hollow, unless we do away with the 'household' fallacy The single greatest masterstroke of the Cameron-Osborne era was to undercut future progressive policy by mainstreaming the idea that the government needs to manage its finances like a household. As the Budget approaches, we should remain sceptical of any claims, like [...]
Who should have the power to create money?
9 May, 2014Who should have the power to create money? In Modernising Money we argue that the power to create money should be removed from the banks and transferred to a democratic, transparent, and accountable body. Martin Wolf recently backed these proposals, but Ann Pettifor describes them as 'deeply flawed' and 'outlandish'. One of Ann's main concerns [...]
The Positive Money proposal in balance sheets
2 May, 2014Clearing up some confusion The monetary system is complicated, as are the various proposals for reforming it. Unfortunately, it is often not possible to describe complex systems in words without leaving some ambiguity in the mind of the reader (hence the usefulness of maths in science). Worse still, these ambiguities can be amplified by preconceived [...]
Why there will be no “shortage of money”
29 April, 2014Positive Money's proposals to reform the creation of money have recently been commented on by Martin Wolf, the chief economics commentator at the Financial Times. Ann Pettifor argues that the proposal is 'deeply flawed' and would lead to “a shortage of money, high unemployment and low economic activity”. I want to address some related points [...]
Would Positive Money reform lead to a reduction in credit available to businesses?
5 February, 2014One of the really common concerns that comes up regarding the Positive Money system is that it would lead to a reduction in credit available to business and therefore stagnation/deflation, a lack of dynamism, low growth, etc. The argument is basically that monetary reform is a choice between growth and dynamism on one hand and [...]
SOVEREIGN MONEY – Paving the way for a sustainable recovery (Report)
13 November, 2013By fuelling our economy through ever-rising levels of household debt, we are repeating the mistakes that led to the 2007-08 financial crisis. Ever since that crisis, the government and Bank of England have tried to encourage further borrowing and further lending by banks. But this is treating the cause of the financial crisis – excessive creation [...]
Adair Turner: “Debt, Money and Mephistopheles: How do we get out of this mess?”
12 February, 2013On the 6th of February, the chairman of the FSA, Adair Turner, gave a speech at Cass Business School, entitled “Debt, Money and Mephistopheles: How do we get out of this mess?” The subject of the speech was the way in which the economy might be brought out of recession. The following post is merely [...]
The Chicago Plan & Positive Money’s proposals – What is the difference?
23 January, 2013This article was originally published on the Clint Ballinger’s website on 25th December 2012 as a reaction to the previous post on Post Keynesianism, MMT, & 100% Reserves Project, Post No. 2. It gives an answer to the question: Does full reserve banking actually stop banks being able to create money out of thin air? The Positive [...]
Not a Pretty Picture – Lending to Businesses Down Again…
2 May, 2012Today the Bank of England published its trends in lending dataset. Unfortunately it doesn't make for pleasant viewing. The chart above outlines the ‘three month annualised growth rate’ of lending to individuals and businesses in the UK – in effect it shows what the yearly growth rate in lending would be if the rate over [...]