10 Years On: why has so little changed since the financial crash?
4 September, 2018As the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers approaches, the Financial Times’ chief economics commentator, Martin Wolf, argues that politicians and policymakers have simply tried to restore things to the past, instead of taking the opportunity to build a better future. As Wolf suggests in his latest piece, the problem isn’t an absence [...]
Polling: 10 years after the financial crisis, the British public still don’t trust banks
16 August, 201866% of Britons don’t trust banks to work in the best interests of UK society 72% believe banks should have faced more severe penalties for their role in the financial crisis 63% are worried that banks may cause another financial crisis London, UK, 16 August 2018 - New polling from research and campaign group [...]
Bank of England raises interest rates: Positive Money response
2 August, 2018Responding to the Bank of England's decision to raise interest rates to 0.75%, Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money said: “With little evidence of domestic inflationary pressure, the Bank of England has today taken an unnecessary risk in raising interest rates while the economy remains weak. “Though the Bank of England does need to [...]
Bank of England household debt fears: Positive Money response
28 June, 2018Responding to Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe's warnings about household debt this morning, Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money said: “After a decade of stagnant wage growth, families have been forced to keep up with rising costs with borrowing. This mountain of debt makes the economy extremely vulnerable to rising interest rates, [...]
Bank of England Financial Stability Report: Positive Money response
27 June, 2018Responding to the Bank of England's latest Financial Stability Report, Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money said: “As the Bank of England’s latest report shows, there are growing material risks to financial stability, particularly from external sources. It is therefore no surprise that in his Mansion House speech last week, the Chancellor announced that [...]
Labour Bank of England review: Positive Money response
20 June, 2018Responding to the launch of the Labour Party’s ‘Financing Investment’ report, Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money said: “It is encouraging to see a major political party thinking seriously about the biggest challenges facing our economy, namely how UK finance can be reconfigured towards productive lending and investment. “Particularly welcome is the report’s proposal [...]
Vollgeld referendum result: Positive Money response
10 June, 2018Responding to estimates that only around a quarter of voters supported the Swiss Vollgeld Initiative in today's referendum, Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money said: “The fact that around a quarter of voters supported the Vollgeld Initiative shows there is a real appetite for radical reform of a money and banking system which does [...]
Positive Money welcomes unprecedented Swiss sovereign money referendum
5 June, 2018LONDON, 5 June 2018 - Research and campaign group Positive Money has today welcomed Switzerland’s referendum on the radical Vollgeld reform, taking place on Sunday 10 June 2018. In an unprecedented vote, citizens will be deciding whether or not Switzerland should introduce a Vollgeld sovereign money system, which would see an end to fractional reserve [...]
RBS sell off: Positive Money response
5 June, 2018Responding to news that the government has incurred a loss of £2.1bn in its latest sell off of RBS shares, Fran Boait, executive director of Positive Money said: “The sell off of RBS is a colossal wasted opportunity. As well as losing the taxpayer billions of pounds, the government is also losing the ability to [...]