I very much liked this letter in the FT this morning, from a tax justice colleague:
It was good to see the FT endorse bailout conditionality in its recent editorial (FT View, April 29). You note our letter in which church leaders also suggest that conditions should be attached to state aid. However, you miss our broader point that this is not just about how we manage the immediate economic crisis, but about the social contract that is being renegotiated in our midst. The British public are accepting unprecedented infringements to their liberties for the sake of the wider good, and when this crisis ends they will not tolerate a return to business as usual. This is not about bashing bankers, as you suggest, but about a vision of collective responsibility. There must be a new financial settlement.
Justin Thacker, National Coordinator, Church Action for Tax Justice
Justin is right: we are paying a price right now.
We expect that to be recognised
The settlement due is a new financial settlement.
And we will demand it.
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Agree entirely – having voluntarily entrusted our liberty to the government for the greater good, the very least we can expect is a settlement in return for the greater good as well.
I wish it would not be so but it will go back to pre covid 19 days, it did after the spanish flu, it did after WW2 though the spanish flu was nearly as soon as it as over. The post war settlement took 34 odd year to undo. The point is the tories are miles ahead in the polls and the british public love them no matter what the media says or not say. The tories will implement austerity again. I wish it was not so but it will go back to old times.
But what if no one in government is either listening or cares?
My concern is that social distancing will be permanently in place. I don’t see how you can have a financial and social settlement with permanent distancing.
What’s suggested here is good, but not going to be possible.
According to Noam Chomsky, the social contract in the UK has been broken long before coronavirus and lockdown. Our governments don’t care, it’s all about big business as big business are their pay masters.
A new settlement will have to be taken, it won’t be givenÂ
Only hopeful answer I could give is there is more of us than there is of them.
The trend so far seems to have been we have the likes of Farage,French nationalists and Trump getting widespread public support. But the establishment still don’t “get it “…..so sadly I would say your last comment may well be the next phase.
Even staid old Mervin King commented after the last financial crash ,that he couldn’t believe why there were not bankers hanging from lamposts in the City!. We do take some riling but things may well take a very nasty turn soon.
It’s not going to be taken is it when so many voters are completely unaware the government has a public currency monopoly. It’s a fantasy!
http://www00.unibg.it/dati/corsi/910003/64338-Warren%20Mosler%20Bergamo%20paper%20March%2010.pdf
It is not just a new financial settlement that will be required. It is a new social contract that is based on the principle of fairness and redistribution of wealth.
Agreed