My friend and Green New Deal colleague Colin Hines has a letter in the Guardian this morning:
Larry Elliott correctly identifies the wartime scale of responses to the coronavirus as signalling the jettisoning of obsolete economic theory (The coronavirus is leading to a whole new way of economic thinking, 22 March). It already involves bypassing deficit handwringing as well as massive Bank of England spending using quantitative easing, with its first-step e-printing of £200bn. Once QE and government spending are — hopefully — providing adequate resources for the health service, and the necessary financial cushion for businesses and workers, it will be time to urgently consider what lessons can be learned to tackle the other all-pervasive threat to our future — the climate emergency.
Central bankers used “bankers' QE” to help tackle the 2008 financial crisis and are now turning to “coronavirus QE”. While working to bring this latest threat to human health under some degree of control, it is time to also plan for “green QE” to fund a global green new deal to transform the health of the planet. In the UK this would involve the Bank of England e-printing hundreds of billions of pounds. A new national investment bank would issue bonds that would be bought using QE and the money used to fund a green and decentralised infrastructure programme. This could include a decades-long, multi-skilled initiative involving energy refits of all 30 million UK buildings, a shift to localised renewable energy and food production, and the building of local transport and flood defence systems. The last war led to the NHS; this one must result in a green new deal.
Colin Hines
Convener, UK Green New Deal Group
Unsurprisingly, I wholeheartedly agree.
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“Central bankers used “bankers’ QE” to help tackle the 2008 financial crisis and are now turning to “coronavirus QE”. “…….indeed, the morons at the ECB are doing what they know best – giving money to banksters for bonds & I have no doubt that, given the lack of liquidity in bond markets, & given said banksters will have had prior knowledge, the ECB wil pay over the odds. The outcome will be as before – zero. What I find strange is that there is very little questioning of this “back to the future” approach in the media.
Euractiv have a piece on “La-self-regard” and the ECB – but nobody is saying “what is the point – it didn’t work last time & it won’t this time”. Some talk (froth) about how they should focus on buying “Green” bonds, as if that will make a blind bit of difference. I can only conclude that cabin fever has taken hold and any critical faculties have been eroded. I agree with what Mr Hines said & could be extended to the Euro zone. But it won’t happen – ECB is run by banksters for banksters (learnt nothing – forgotten nothing).
I am already working with academic colleagues to challenge this issue…
It is one of many fronts I am working on
Shouldn’t it really be “Coronavirus SME” (Social Money Easing) or simply SME that has to be automatically resorted to through increased Social Money output when Market Money creation’s dwindled? Isn’t that the take-home message voters should also now be acknowledging to deal with both the coronavirus and the climate change crises?
SME has another meaning – small and medium sized enterprise – that rather rules that out
True I forgot that acronym. The coronavirus recessionary effects are though highlighting the need to rely much more on social money creation than market creation. “Easing” is perhaps not quite the right word.
For me with recents events Corbyn has won the argument if not the general election – but – the tories have gone socialist for a short time but make no mistake they have not change their spots and when it’s over they will go back to type. Massive austerity is coming, – look at the bail out the rich are getting again and the ordinary folk get bugger all