Summer Statement: Why Rishi Sunak is skating on thin ice
Robert Skidelsky
July 10, 2020
The government’s ineptness in handling the health crisis will thus impact both the supply and the demand sides of the economy.
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Johnson’s Economic Recovery Plan – Not much of a “New Deal”
Sue Konzelmann
July 10, 2020
Sue Konzelmann writes on Boris Johnson’s Economic Recovery Plan. Focusing almost exclusively on the usual sectors – property, construction and finance – it’s likely to make an already unbalanced economy even more lopsided.
Fiscal Deficit and Public Debt too Large?
John Weeks
June 24, 2020
As Britain enters a severe recession that will lead to large fiscal deficits and growing public debt, a question presents itself — when are deficits and debt too large?
Coronavirus Borrowing and What Causes Inflation
John Weeks
June 1, 2020
Far from a problem, moderate rates of price increase signal a healthy, expanding economy.
Debt Monetization and Inflation Ideology
John Weeks
May 11, 2020
Market economies tend to generate unemployment not full employment. Real economies produce many goods and services with quite different process of price determination. Governments and central banks at most influence not determine money in circulation. Inflation is not the result of too much money. That is its consequence.
Did social care save the NHS?
Susan Himmelweit
May 8, 2020
We need a public sector led National Care Service nationally funded, but locally delivered, operating with decent working conditions alongside the NHS providing support for all who need it free at the point of use.
Urgent measures needed for the international financial system
Stephany Griffith-Jones
May 4, 2020
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should agree a rapid issuance of at least $500bn in international liquidity, in the form of additional Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
The Role of Tax after the Pandemic
Richard Murphy
May 4, 2020
There is a need for massive reform of tax after the coronavirus crisis
A Financial Revolution is Needed – in Weeks
Will Hutton
May 2, 2020
To avert permanent economic damage during the worst slump for 300 years, the government has to provide emergency credit to business, guarantee loans, offer grants, defer tax and rate payments and directly pay the wages of furloughed workers
Monetization: Justification, Process and Outcomes
John Weeks
April 30, 2020
Preventing speculation and complementing fiscal policy provide strong motivations for monetization.
Time to Pilot Basic Income
Guy Standing
April 30, 2020
Universal Credit is and has been from its outset a disaster, It is mean-spirited, over-complicated, punitive and moralistic. This is the time to put it to sleep. Now is the time for UBI pilots to test variants of a basic income for one year, and then evaluate them.
COVID-19 and THE NOAH’S ARK PROBLEM
Robert Skidelsky
April 30, 2020
Given that we have no ethically accepted principle of choosing between who is to live and who to die, we should take exceptional pains to ensure that we do not face acute shortages of life-preserving equipment.
Coronavirus will drive public debt far higher than expected – but that doesn’t mean a return to austerity
John Weeks
April 22, 2020
To achieve sustained recovery, the government might need to have household debt partially cancelled. The chancellor’s recovery programme addresses corporate debt to some extent, by providing businesses with loans with generous payback conditions and other support.
Dealing with the health crisis: rationing and price controls
John Weeks
March 31, 2020
John Weeks argues the coronavirus outbreak requires measures including quantity rationing and price controls, alongside a rethink of UK labour market policy.
COVID-19: How the UK’s economic model contributes toward a mismanagement of the crisis
Carolina Alves
March 31, 2020
Carolina Alves and Farwa Sial discuss the efficiency of the UK’s economic response to the COVID-19 crisis and explain why it does not directly support households but companies
The End of Austerity Speak
John Weeks
March 30, 2020
The United Kingdom has made its first step toward ending the rhetoric of fiscal austerity, yet reactions to the budget on 11th March demonstrate how engrained the austerity ideology is in the media.
The 2020 Budget
Patrick Allen
March 27, 2020
The day following the 2020 budget, PEF interviewed five members of the PEF Council on the new budget and the changing economic direction of the United Kingdom. Here are the interviews in full.
The Job Retention Scheme makes no sense, Basic Income does
Guy Standing
March 26, 2020
Guy Standing writes for the PEF blog, arguing that the government’s Job Retention Scheme is a poor and inegalitarian alternative to a basic income.
The Coronavirus Debt Crisis
Johnna Montgomerie
March 23, 2020
UK household debt hit an all-time high before the Coronavirus. Now it’s the next crisis the government has to tackle – and only a suspension of repayments will do.
Letter in response to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement of support for businesses
PEF
March 23, 2020
We welcome the government’s new measures to support workers, particularly the introduction of grants for wage support. But despite the scale of these spending commitments, there is a real danger that millions of workers will not feel their benefit.
Coronavirus, Economic Crisis and Basic Income
Guy Standing
March 17, 2020
A global economic crisis has been waiting to happen for several years, now Coronavirus is triggering that crisis. PEF Council member Guy Standing makes the case for introducing a Basic Income as a first step toward dealing with the pandemic.
‘The Bank of England must lead the way on climate change’ – Open letter
PEF
March 6, 2020
This week a number of PEF Council members alongside figures from across economics, environmentalism and other fields signed this open letter to the governor of the Bank of England. The letter can be read here.
The Prime Minister has weakened the Treasury. Progressives should be grateful
John Weeks
March 3, 2020
The Treasury has always acted as a restraining influence on elected governments. The Prime Minister’s move is good news for democracy.
The Monetarist fantasy is over
Robert Skidelsky
February 19, 2020
Robert Skidelsky argues the ousting of Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid points toward a broader global shift in economic policy.
