I noted our event in Cambridge on 28 February here yesterday.
We have now also issued this invitation on YouTube:
Tickets and details are available here.
There is, of course, a transcript:
This video is unusual for us because I'm making a specific invitation to you. Please join us at the Funding the Future Conference in Cambridge on the 28th of February.
Funding the Future is more than a blog or a channel these days. It is about how we organise society, and that involves people, including you.
We've mainly been about social media to date, but we also talk to people, we meet with people, and we think with other people, and that's precisely what we want to do at our conference on the 28th of February in the Hilton Hotel in Central Cambridge, to which we're inviting you.
The event is being deliberately structured so that you have a chance to meet us, other people who are interested in the topics about which you're concerned, with plenty of opportunity to talk, and to also ask questions.
The event starts at 12:30, so you should have plenty of time to get to Cambridge. It finishes at 05:00, so you should have time to get home, and there will be three sessions, and the goals are threefold.
First of all, we want to talk about what is going on in the world. We want to talk about care as if it were economics that is relational and not virtual. We want to, therefore, have this chance to actually meet and understand each other.
Secondly, we want to talk about economics that make sense. So we're going to have a session on learning about the bond market, which is important because that is one of the areas where there's particular confusion amongst many people who watch my channel, and they want to know what this is about. So we thought we'd focus on that, but of course, with an opportunity to ask questions.
And thirdly, we're going to have a question-and-answer session. That is about creating understanding. You could ask anything within reason. If it's too long, we might reserve the right to make a video about it instead of spending too long at the meeting on a particular topic, but the point is this. Bring your questions with you. Ask us about something technical. Ask us about something to do with politics. Ask us about where you think the country will be in five years' time. Ask us if you like about how we make our videos and why we are motivated to do so. The point is, the floor will be yours.
So, please come along on 28th February. Talk to us. Let's build something real and not just digital. Learn, challenge and connect, that's what this event is about because the future will not fund itself.
There's a link down below with all the booking details.
Tickets and details are available here.
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Richard, might it be useful to insert ‘pm’ into the timing of the event on 28th?
Noted.
But I really can’t imagine people thinking we’re doing it at night.
I’ve bought a ticket and am at least 50% sure I can make it.
In the spirit of your ‘Are We The Media’ post…. and continuing my efforts to have informed discussions with small groups of my friends… I am trying to start an online discussion on Substack of some of the facts around government and money.
I have tried to write a concise description of how the government spending mechanism works…. in the vein of showing that we don’t need to rely on tax and borrowing receipts before we can spend…
https://anjacradden.substack.com/p/coming-soon
I’d be grateful for a ‘fact check’ and any corrections before I open the discussion…
Many Thanks again to all the people here generously sharing their expertise.
This is my fact check:
From a Modern Monetary Theory perspective, the core claim is substantially correct: the UK government does not need to obtain money from taxes or bond markets before it can spend. Spending is operationally prior. However, some institutional details need tightening to avoid over-statement or technical error.
What is correct
1. Household analogy
MMT fully agrees that likening the UK government to a household is false. A currency-issuing government spends by instructing its agent, the Bank of England, to credit bank accounts. Taxes and bond sales do not “fund” this spending.
2. Sequencing of spending, tax, and borrowing
It is correct that the government does not wait for tax receipts or gilt sales before spending. Operationally, spending creates reserves; taxation and gilt issuance occur later to drain reserves and manage liquidity and interest rates.
3. Ways and Means facility
Your quotation from the Debt Management Report is accurate. The Ways and Means account does function as an overdraft mechanism ensuring settlement continuity. This supports the MMT point that the UK government cannot “run out of money” in sterling.
4. Constraints
MMT agrees that the real constraints are legal authority (Parliamentary approval) and inflation, understood as a real resource constraint. Taxes help control inflation by reducing private spending power.
Points needing clarification:
1. “Typing money into existence”
While directionally correct, it is more precise to say the Bank of England credits reserve balances. Money creation here is accounting-based, not discretionary “printing.”
2. Debt Management Account vs Consolidated Fund
Spending authority flows via Supply Estimates and the Consolidated Fund. The Debt Management Account is part of cash management, not the legal source of spending power.
3. Fiscal rules
You are right that the Charter for Budget Responsibility does not override the operational reality. It is a self-imposed political constraint, not a mechanism that can cause insolvency—just as under George Osborne.
Conclusion
From an MMT perspective, your argument is fundamentally sound. The danger lies not in technical insolvency but in politicians choosing to behave as if the household myth were true—as implied by the infamous “no money left” note from Liam Byrne.
Thank you very much!
I’ll work on tightening that up 🙂