If anyone is wondering why there are no blogs so far today the answer is straightforward.
I heard yet another government minister telling a journalist (Kay Burley this time) earlier this morning that we ‘must repay the Covid debt'.
This is complete nonsense. I am working on a Twitter thread that will also appear here to explain why. Sometimes these things take a little while, but it seems like the best use of my time this morning.
So, I will get back to the blog, but later on.
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I heard the same on the Today programme in the 8.10 interview slot. I know a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but I cannot listen to the economics spokespersons of any mainstream party these days without immediately seeing the glaring flaws and gaping holes in their arguments.
There can also be unforeseen consequences….
I actually agreed with some of John Redwood’s critical followup comments. If he is making sense, we have really hit rough times.
Strange times indeed !
Yes!
Redwood is rare in understanding some economics
He gets all his preconditions wrong
And like many he does not get money
But he does know some economics
If memory serves me right, Redwood read History at Oxford, and his DPhil, as Oxford PhDs are designated, was based on research into the Church of England and the Civil War.
So what?
He seems to have learned some economics too
I find it very odd that people think your education finishes when you get your last degree
Mine is still continuing
The numbers don’t lie Richard – you have to prioritise where you have the biggest impact.
Surveys show that the UK has one of the highest levels of financial illiteracy in the developed world. For the Tories, Thatcher, with her Grantham housewife act, it still the epitome of good financial management. Madness to equate household finances with either corporate or governmental finances, but there we are.
Never apologise for prioritising your time and especially not for confronting this orchestrated lie.
But I will
People contribute to this blog and I feel a duty to supply blogs
The thread is now very long, and unearthing new thinking
Something similar on radio 4’s Today programme.
I’m sure Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund Limited will be very glad to hear that the £900 billion or so of gilts that it holds for the Treasury will be repaid by, er, the Treasury. The left hand must repay the right hand!
😉
The government minister this morning, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said that a one percent rise in interest rates would cost, if I recall, £23 billion.
But as I understand, on the QE borrowing any interest paid by the Treasury to the B of E would be returned to the Treasury.
I may have misunderstood but it is correct, why doesn’t he know it?
This claim is ridiculous
It is 1% of total gross government debt
I will do a blog soon