{"id":6925,"date":"2019-11-13T08:30:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T08:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progressiveeconomyforum.com\/development\/?p=6925"},"modified":"2019-11-12T14:44:35","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T14:44:35","slug":"the-green-new-deal-means-the-uk-has-no-shortage-of-shovel-ready-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressiveeconomyforum.com\/development\/blog\/the-green-new-deal-means-the-uk-has-no-shortage-of-shovel-ready-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"The Green New Deal means the UK has no shortage of &#8220;shovel-ready&#8221; projects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>This is a copy of Richard Murphy&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2019\/nov\/10\/election-spending-pledges-and-magic-money-trees\">letter<\/a> to the guardian on 10\/11\/2019. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Labour\u2019s&nbsp;clear commitment to a \u00a3250bn \u201cgreen transformation fund\u201d correctly puts climate&nbsp;centre&nbsp;stage in this election (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/business\/2019\/nov\/07\/labour-and-tories-race-to-ramp-up-spending-despite-borrowing-risks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Turning on the spending tap: How the parties\u2019 plans compare<\/a>, 8 November). The usual economic suspects have immediately lined up to wring their hands, worrying about levels of debt and the availability of \u201cshovel-ready\u201d projects. They miss the real points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first is whether there are buyers for the bonds that will fund this spending. At present, more than 80% of UK personal wealth is invested in tax-incentivised assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In that case simple tax rule changes will drive buyers towards Green New Deal bonds. For example, if the rules on Isas were changed so that all funds saved had to be invested in Green New Deal bonds, and an interest rate of 1.85% (the current average cost of UK government borrowing) was paid then the \u00a370bn that goes into Isas each year could be directed towards the Green New Deal. Simple changes to pension rules could provide the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, as for a lack of shovel-ready projects, Labour\u2019s plans include making the UK\u2019s 30m buildings energy efficient while shifting energy supply to renewables. We already have the skills and knowledge to restart this transformation, since many in those sectors lost their jobs when the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/conservatives\" target=\"_blank\">Conservatives<\/a>&nbsp;cut support for such activity. Of course, a massive retraining programme will also be required, but if the government makes the money available you can be sure that the shovels will come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Photo credit:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/john-briody-photography\/\"> Flickr\/<\/a><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/john-briody-photography\/\">john-briody-photography<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Murphy, PEF Council Member and member of the Green New Deal Group argues that Labour&#8217;s commitments to a \u00a3250bn &#8220;green transformation fund&#8221; is fiscally responsible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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