This was David Cameron's tasteless intervention with reference to me in his Conservative Party speech this morning:
There’s an academic called Richard Murphy. He’s the Labour Party’s new economics guru, and the man behind their plan to print more money.
He gave an interview a few weeks ago. He was very frank. He admitted that Labour’s plan would cause a “sterling crisis”, but to be fair……he did add, and I quote, that it “would pass very quickly”.Well, that’s alright then.
His book is actually called “The Joy of Tax”. I’ve read it.I took it home to show Samantha. It’s got 64 positions. And none of them work.
Wow. I hope she's forgiving.
More soon.
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It’s so tempting to do the obvious joke…
But I’ll be grown up.
it was a joke…and she laughed as much as the rest of the audience.
Of course she did…..
At Tory conferences the seats are wired up so if you don’t laugh at inane humour you get a bit of a shock.
The fact that Cameron understood the reference of the title of Richard’s book is probably stretched his intellectual capacity to its limits.
To be fair he was trying those positions on a sow.
That’s absolutely unacceptable.
Richard Murphy, I thought it would be below your dignity to allow comments like this onto your blog.
I think that was fair co ment in this case
Or at least sufficiently amusing
Unlike this joke
If people dish it out they have to be prepared to accept the same. Anything else is just plain mardyness.
There are far more unacceptable things going on, from the numbers of people being driven to food banks through to the blatent demonisation of everyone who is considered not “one of us” and therefore disposable as citizens, to be getting worked up about.
But then I guess different people have different priorities.
People tell me the Conservatives are not worried about Corbynomics, that they rejoice in his election as leader of the Labour Party. Which does make me wonder why their leader just devoted so much of the speech to attacking him.
Still, I know some people whose response to the speech has been to join the Labour Party. I hope plenty of people hear the plug and dash out to buy your book too.
The level of crassness of Cameron’s attacks and jibes with their public school refectory aura may well backfire on him and could benefit Corbyn. Cameron’s humour is part of the ‘put-down humour’ developed by his friend Clarkson (also a public school boy) and very much part of the last 35 years of neo-liberal dumbed-downness. I think Corbyn may well emerge the more adult and might show how much our culture has been infantilised.
Some people never get past undergraduate level humour do they, and Cameron’s clearly one of them. I’m not surprised at all as its been clear for some while that being in government is just an extension of those jolly japes he got up to at Uni: except him and his mates can now actually harm the “plebs” they loved to take the piss out of as students.
You have to admire the incisive economic commentary offered by Mr Cameron in response to Labour’s proposals though. It would have been so easy for him to play the man and ignore the policies.
Deary, deary me…
“His book is actually called “The Joy of Tax”. I’ve read it.I took it home to show Samantha. It’s got 64 positions. And none of them work.”
Dear Prime-Minister try Aspirin.
In fairness there was much food for thought there, don’t you think Richard?
If you want a real, authentic laugh, watch this clip of the late and great comedian George Carlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aM_l7sjyUY4
Cameron really is a tasteless lightweight, isn’t he? How on earth did he get a 1st in PPE from Oxford? It quite downgrades the alleged superiority of my Alma Mater, I’m afraid, and can only imagine it was awarded on his ability to regurgitate the required meaningless nonsense at the drop of a hat, as in this very poor attempt at meaningful humour. What a silly little man we have as PM!
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually slaves of some defunct economist.” (John Maynard Keynes).
Cameron is unfit to be prime minister but then his priorities are as bad as his jokes. Why does the man derive so much pleasure from hurting people who did not cause the financial crash, and making the rich even richer, and pile on agony for the less well-off?. Is there a psychiatrist online?
(Oops – am reposting because of typo).
Richard — having just read the responses to your piece in the Guardian it would appear that the level of economic literacy at all levels of society is so dangerously low that we should brace ourselves for the consequencies, which will be socially destructive to the point of no return. It is difficult to remain positive with the corporate elite ever more in control of the levers of power. Regrettably it seems to me that the only way progressive change can happen is when the status quo collapses totally and its protagonists have nowhere to hide. Anyhow, thank you for your important contribution to the debate. “Knowledge is no substitute for political power. It is merely somewhere to start.” (Rebecca Rojer — http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/the-world-according-to-modern-monetary-theory).
Thanks for that reference. I’ve never read that article. It’s excellent and also for the introduction to Rebecca Rojer. She looks like a very interesting and talented individual.
You’re welcome Andy. There is so much amazing information available on the Internet. And so many creative thinkers & activists. It just beggars belief that more of their ideas don’t permeate into some strata of the Establishment. But I guess that’s the simple difference between conservatives and progressives. It’s always going to be a struggle – it always has been. As Warren Buffett supposedly remarked (Nov 2006) “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
Whilst we disagree about most things Richard, I think that you may have got hold of the wrong end of the stick here. Regardless of the joke, the PRIME MINISTER has ACKNOWLEDGED YOU in his speech to the Conservative Party. You’re on his radar. Congratulations on the recognition. I think if I was Cameron, I would have just ignored you because there is no better way of giving someone’s ideas currency than them to be repeated on the national stage!
Nice of him to plug your book.
Whilst listening to Jeremy Corbyn’s speech at the Labour Party conference I wondered how it would contrast with today’s tory equivalent. The contrast is stark – revealing Jeremy’s lovely nature and Cameron’s sneering smugness.
Waiting for the train back from Brighton I met with a failed parliamentary candidate from the right of the party who was commiserating with a friend about the unelectability of our leader. The truth is the general public do not know him yet and when they do things will turn round.
Funny!
Didn’t he poll worse than any other new Labour leader? Wait ’till the public realise just how much he’ll raid their bank accounts; they’re going to love him!
You do rather ignore the fact that Jeremy Corbyn knew nothing of what I wrote in The Joy of Tax, which was finished (by and large) before Corbynomics hit the road
I don’t know what Jeremy Corbyn will do to people’s Bank Accounts but I do have an idea of what the Conservatives might do (which may very well be continued by any future Labour Government):
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bail-in-powers-implementation-including-draft-secondary-legislation/bail-in-powers-implementation#background-on-bail-in
The Current Government (in 2014) has already discussed “Bail In” options for Failing Banks. That could be a good thing but depends on how one defines “Creditor” as I am a Creditor to the Bank that holds my Current Account as the Money in my Account is legally “Lent” to the Bank.
And that power may be used
I hope you sent him a signed copy and a thank-you card: you couldn’t pay for the publicity and credibility that Cameron is giving you.
Yes. You’re well past the “first they ignore” you stage.
Second they ridicule you, but they are on dangerous ground there! If they do understand how the economy works, why all the problems? Either they don’t understand it, or they deliberately do want it to be this way.
It will take a time but if we keep at we’ll have them at the third stage, pretending they agreed with us all along!
Time is required
Just time
I heard much of Cameron’s speech and found it to be the ravings of a power-mad lunatic. I would also point readers to Gove’s response to some faintly mocking questions on house starts from Andrew Neil on the Daily Politics. Please try and watch it because Gove’s meltdown shows how hollow is the Tory form of politics.
Fast forward to The Papers on BBCNews24 just a minute ago, we hear of Peter Mandelson’s worries about Cameron moving onto Labour’s territory and what a tragedy this would be as it would mean Labour couldn’t help those whom Tory policies would hurt. And so here we have the utter bankruptcy of modern modern party politics. Cameron can say anything, literally anything and for the media it is as if words are somehow deeds and that everything he says will automatically happen. Never mind that the last five years prove much of this incorrect. When Gove gets found out on the DP it doesn’t matter at all because it doesn’t fit today’s narrative even though it would make for a nice little story and provide some balance. Then we have Mandelson’s bogus worries: if Cameron was really going to bear down on inequality and discrimination it wouldn’t particularly matter if the Tories were in charge. Yet Mandy knows Cameron won’t(Mandy’s target is Corbyn) and betrays this by his real worries about what the Tories might do to ordinary people. It’s all a complete mess. Yet most media hate Corbyn and so today’s narrative is of Cameron and his compassion. Utterly sick-making.
Still we’re at stage two of Gandhi’s quote…first they ignore you, then they laugh at you…now for the fight!!!
I agree that the speech of David Cameron sounded like a power mad lunatic but it almost seems that the speeches at the Conservative Party Conference were not about content but more about style – a style that does not appeal to me in the slightest as the content it inaccurate, misleading and dangerous.
So how on Earth can a Right Wing bunch of Fanatical Neo-Cons get Elected ??? There are some excellent Conservative MPs who are knowledgeable, intelligent and prepared to disagree with the most damaging polices but unfortunately, they are not on the Front Bench.
I did some maths (based on the results shown on the BBC website – which appear accurate):
The Conservative Party won 36.9% of the Vote – that means that out of everyone that voted – 63.1% voted AGAINST the current Conservative Government. DEMOCRACY is supposed to be at least MAJORIOTY rule – so I thought.
But it is worse than that as the turnout at the May 2015 Election was only 66.1% (Total Electorate being 46,420,413 possible votes, only 30,683,892 actually bothered to vote).
So the actual percentage of the Total Electorate who voted for the Conservative Government is actually 24.4%, meaning that our current Government was NOT elected by 75.6% of the total Electorate.
Less than a quarter voted for the Conservative Government. That even makes a mockery of Benjamin Franklin’s quote – ‘Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.’
In our system Democracy is one Wolf and three sheep voting on what’s for dinner and the Wolf wins the vote and the sheep don’t have guns.
So 75% of the population could be in favour of QE for the People but if they vote in the same way they did at the last Election, the Wolf still gets to eat the other sheep.
Conservatives will always attack any ideas that affect Tax Loopholes and especially, more money created by the Public, for the Public good. Most Conservative Party Contributions come from Financial Institutions, High Net Worth Individuals and International Corporations who all benefit from Offshore Accounts, Nominee Companies and the privilege of Expanding the Money Supply at will – Private Money Printing and Destruction.
They will ignore the fact that it is basically the same as QE for the Banks except the Money created will have a more direct route into the real economy and will not be inflationary as it will be used for productive purposes instead of Asset Price Bubbles, which tend to benefit the same people who contribute to the Tory Party. Financial Institutions will lose control of some of their Money Printing (less Demand for Loans) and will always fight tooth and nail to prevent such a proposal.
I would love to have seen Andrew Neil’s brief before he interviewed Richard Murphy on the Daily Politics Show – what was the plan of attack I wonder and why?
I can’t help feeling both angry about the comments made by David Cameron and also sorry for that fact that here’s a Prime Minister that in October 2011 was going to make a speech at the Conservative Party Conference saying:
“The only way out of a debt crisis is to deal with your debts. That means households — all of us — paying off the credit card and store card bills.”
This was changed to:
“That is why households are paying down the credit card and store card bills.”
Apart from the fact that people could not afford to pay down their debts, there is another important reason why people can never pay down their debts. If we pay down our debts, the means of Exchange – Digital Money created by Banks, shrinks. If the money supply shrinks, the economy goes into recession (or even depression) or a debt deflation, since 97% of all our money is created as Debt. I don’t think David Cameron’s speech writer understood that fact in 2011.
If people had followed David Cameron’s advice – assuming they could afford to – the Economy would have slowed if not stalled to a halt as Money IS Debt.
So it is fortunate for Richard Murphy that he was insulted by a man (David Cameron) who doesn’t understand how money works and how it is created – but wait a second – the Economy is safe under a Conservative Government – so long as we forget about the doubling of the National Debt since David Cameron became Prime Minister.
In 2013, after he claimed in a Conservative Party political broadcast that “we are paying down Britain’s debts”, the Prime Minister was issued with the explanation of the differences between “Debt” and “Deficit” by the UK Statistics Authority.
Labour wrote to the statistics body objecting to Mr Cameron’s use of the phrase, as the Treasury has only been reducing the country’s deficit.
So it is difficult for me – however hard I try – to be enthusiastic about the phrase “The Economy is safe in Conservative Hands”.
There are other instances of misleading statements from leading Conservatives (one concerning the City of London by Boris Johnson springs to mind) which either indicate that the Conservative Party are either lying about the Economy, accept what their advisers tell them to say about it or are simply ignorant of the true facts.
I do believe that their is merit with Richard Murphy’s People’s or Infrastructure QE proposals.
Richard,
Congratulations on achieving status of supervillain among conservatives, which I take Cameron’s comment to indicate; your Lex Luthor to his Superman one suspects he imagines. Think of the potential for t-shirt sales.
The transcript has one slight inaccuracy – he didn’t say “I’ve read it”, he only said “I’ve got it”.
I doubt he’s read it. I doubt he’s got it either actually.
Maybe you should send him a copy, with a “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” bookmark?
https://youtu.be/UcidlpFefEo