Rob Macquarie
To beat a no-deal Brexit, the government and Bank of England must work together
9 March, 2019This week marks 10 years since the Bank of England introduced its quantitative easing (QE) programme, setting in motion the creation of hundreds of billions of pounds of new public money. The decade since has been marked by dysfunctional economic policy. While the Bank kept the taps turned on, the government pulled in the opposite [...]
Escaping Growth Dependency, one step at a time
17 January, 2019[Technical read.] Positive Money’s report Escaping Growth Dependency, published in early 2018, drew a link between the current debt-based monetary system and the escalating ecological crisis. The report also offered reforms and policies that would simultaneously tackle debt and promote a sustainable transition - akin to the Green New Deal currently receiving so much attention [...]
New Bank of England research adds to the case against loanable funds
10 December, 2018Understanding banks hasn’t always caused such difficulty for economists. In the first half of the twentieth century, theorists like Joseph Schumpeter outlined the role of banks in creating and allocating money. Unfortunately, the profession took a wrong turn in the 1960s. By the turn of the millennium, macroeconomics had developed something of a blind spot [...]
UK government found wanting on financial disclosure
2 November, 2018The Green Finance inquiry carried out by the Environmental Audit Committee at the beginning of this year made crucial headway in raising awareness of the role finance must play in the UK’s low-carbon transition. Ensuring sustainability is at the core of all financial decisions is paramount to achieving climate goals and protecting the financial system. [...]
Modern Monetary Theory and Positive Money, Part 2: Money and Debt (2)
19 October, 2018This is the third in a series of blogs looking at the relationship between Modern Monetary Theory and the proposals made by Positive Money. It follows directly on from the second in the series. Why does Positive Money refer to the money created under some of its proposals as ‘debt-free’? According to the principles of [...]
The Bank of England must lead on disclosure of climate risk
15 October, 2018Three years on from Governor Mark Carney’s eye-catching announcement that climate change is an enormous challenge for finance, the Bank of England is starting to take action. The Prudential Regulation Authority has published a draft of its expectations from the banks and insurers it regulates regarding the risk posed by climate change. However, much more [...]
A week of modern monetary events: #mmtconf18 and the Gower Initiative
9 October, 2018Autumn always brings a busy events calendar, and this year has been no exception. Last week, Positive Money attended two conventions dedicated to Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), a perspective on macroeconomics and the monetary system that is rapidly gaining popularity. There are sturdy links between our work and MMT. So it’s fantastic to see a [...]
Modern Monetary Theory and Positive Money, Part II: Money and Debt (1)
27 September, 2018This is the second in a series of blogs looking at the relationship between Modern Monetary Theory and the proposals made by Positive Money. Another post explains Positive Money’s stance on the issues explored here. In 1943, Abba Lerner published ‘Functional Finance and the Federal Debt’. He declared the article was a statement of the [...]
Modern Monetary Theory and Positive Money, Part I: Intellectual roots and focus
3 September, 2018This is the first in a series of blogs looking at the intellectual and practical relationship between ‘Modern Monetary Theory’ and the proposals made by Positive Money. To anyone interested in macroeconomics and the role of government, the name ‘Modern Monetary Theory’ (MMT) should by now be familiar. This school of thought, which distinguishes itself [...]