Economics
£40bn UK budget deficit in 2020 if chancellor sticks to spending cuts
By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor A City University report has revealed that the Chancellor could be forced to borrow billions of pounds more than predicted by 2020 if he continues with his huge spending cuts. The Chancellor's autumn statement will be announced this week and the University study claims the Treasury has drastically underestimated the impact of departmental and welfare cuts on the wider economy. The report singled out the cuts to public sector investment as a major factor in...
The green shoots of Crowdfunding
By Ryan Carter @rwscarter There is a beautiful bottom-up revolution underway in the energy market, but like all revolutions there is hurdles the question is can the state facilitate the green revolution, I think it should. This requires putting into reverse how the state has been seen in market interventions as a monolithic agent ‘crowding-out’ competition. I believe that the state can and should act smart and counter to popular opinion 'crowd-in' the market, breaking the hegemonic cartel of the...
Energy: We Need to Own it
By Oliver Ward Over the last three months, for the first time in history, Britain's renewable energy production surpassed its coal production. A monumental moment, the palpable demonstration of how far renewable energy has come in the UK and the changing attitudes towards our role as inhabitants on this planet. A view clearly not shared by the Conservative party who have announced that subsidies for renewable energy companies will be ended on the 1st of April next year. Leaving over...
We must challenge Austerity and the Deficit Lies
By Professor Mary Mellor The Labour U-turn to vote against Osborne’s fiscal charter ‘trap’ is welcome, but it cannot stop there – Labour needs to open up a real debate about public access to money in a modern economy. Osborne’s aim to enshrine in law that States must not run deficits is profoundly undemocratic. It reflects the demand of neoliberal ‘handbag economics’ that the public sector cannot and should not ‘create money’ by running a deficit. This denial of the right...
A once ignored solution to the age old quandary of monetary union
By James Clark The culmination of the much fabled Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 resulted in the brave claim that a system of monetary union, positioned unshakeably upon the benevolent foundation of US hegemony, had established the conditions for everlasting economic stability. What the Conference had however failed to adopt was one of none other than John Maynard Keynes' seemingly more abstract suggestions. Keynes had spotted and presented both weakness and solution within and as part of the proposed Monetary...
London SMEs to Eclipse Rest of Country in Next 10 Years
By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent Small and medium-sized enterprises in London are set to eclipse the rest of the country with revenues forecasted to increase by over £160,000 by 2025 compared to the £82,000 increase expected around the country as a whole. Despite the government’s Summer Budget pledge to put the power into the Northern Powerhouse, the gap between London’s small businesses and those in the North looks set to more than double in the next ten years according to new...
How to End this Greek Tragedy
By Ben Ramanauskas Greece has found itself in a modern day tragedy of Homeric proportions. However, this is a tragedy which is both very real and which has no heroes. There is no Achilles or Odysseus ready to save the day, only villains and victims. Whether it's previous Greek Governments who borrowed and spent far too recklessly, or the cunning investment bankers who helped them to hide their debt, or the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the German...
The Greek Bailout Fund
By Nathan Lee, TLE Correspondent Amidst the financial blackmail orchestrated by the European Union, the Central Bank and the IMF (i.e, the German government), there is a new people-led movement under way with a remit of saving the country without bankrupting it at the same time. Greece needs a €1.6 billion bailout, without which the government will default on its debts, a Grexit will be on the cards and all havoc will ensue. As things stand its only option is to turn...
Deflation: What it means for you.
By Melanie Powell, Senior Lecturer Economics University of Derby, Derby Business School Deflation is the latest worry. Japan has it, Europe has it, but do we? No. Not yet. But we are on the brink with the announcement that the UK inflation rate is zero. Will we catch it? Should we be worried? Surely inflation was the problem and so deflation must be good? It all depends. Most of us have got our heads round inflation – rising prices, and...