Yesterday was a busy day in the media for me.
Apart from a letter in The Guardian (already noted) and an appearance on the Jeremey Vine show on BBC Radio 2 to defend Coutts Bank right to refuse banking services to Nigel Farage, I also had an article in AccountingWEB, expanding on the need for the government to publish its Whole of Government Accounts as soon as possible:
And in my usual weekly column in The National in Scotland, I explored why Licy Powell MP might have wanted to claim 'there is no money left', with unflattering conclusions:
I also turned down doing Radio 5 at 5am this morning. Does anyone really listen at that time?
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I wonder if Powell, privately, would agree that what she says is palpable nonesense?
The reason I ask is that I regularly meet with people, in senior positions (industry & gov) whose private view point usually aligns with mine but whose public viewpoint supports “the party line”, which is usually disconnected from objective reality.
As for opportunitues for taxation – no more derogations on aircraft fuel would pull in an additional £2.5bn (source: T&R report).
If politicos are unable to discuss in a rationale fashion gov finances, if everything comes down to what a (mostly unelected) clique decides at the top (vile-Liebore NEC) then one needs to ask: why vote for a patently undemocratic party that is incapable of talking sense on gov finances & whose senior people are quite simply trained parrots?
Agreed
Might you mail me the link to that report on tax?
For what it is worth, I usually catch the Wake up to Money, 5am Radio 5 show. It will have an audience of mostly business people I imagine – certainly never seems short of guests. Not sure I have ever heard anyone NOT follow the “national debt is bad, there is no Government money except taxpayers money, no answer to inflation except raise interest rates” standard economics textbook line, although on the latter one, some callers have started to question whether it makes sense – I suspect more out of wanting their pain to stop rather than a sound theoretical objection.
But it is SO early….
A productive day Richard, even by your own high standards.
Reflecting on Powell, all I can say is that we are seeing modern managerialism in action that’s all – where people are paid a lot of money to say and do the most outrageous things.
Being able to do this is a sign that your loyalty can bought (not earnt) at the right price. It’s everywhere these days I’ afraid.
It’s all about controlling the narratives that drive our world (into chaos and destruction).
Controlling the narrative has taken the place of Government. We are badly goverened Everybody knows it. The economy stands in ruins. The demographics are disastrous. Neoliberalism has no solutions.
Does anyone really think the government is actually managing anything; in control of anything of material substance? No. So what do you think Downing Street does all day?
Here is what they really do all day, every day. They know they are overwhelmed and neoliberalism has no answers. They know there is something wrong, and they are out of ideas, and running out of time; therefore they gave up trying to govern, and decided that the business of government in the modern world wasn’t actually governing the country, the people or the economy. It was just a matter of controlling the narrative.
They control the narrative principally through the media, led by the BBC (it is a strange thing that the free market neoliberals pretend to be unable to unseat the BBC’s Charter – the should have lost it post-Savile – when they need it more than anyone, because the neoliberal press dictates the news agenda for the BBC, because of the endemic flaws in the functioning of impartiality: an example of “controlling the narrative”, while seeming to be hamstrung by it); and very few people seem either to see it, or understand it: even here.
Interesting you were asked onto Wake up to Money. I’m always up at 5, so sometimes listen to that show, though I’ve lost patience with it recently as the presenters and their guests mostly parrot the usual orthodox economic myths: there is no money left, raising interest rates is the only solution to inflation, goverment debt is always bad, the BoE know what they’re doing, etc, etc. It’s really dispiriting. I actually emailed them last week suggesting they get their act together, and wouldn’t it be great if they had someone like your good self on the show! Do let us know if you plan to do it in the future, and a big thanks for this blog. I don’t in any way have an economics background, but the topics raised here have really opened my eyes; truly an ongoing series of Copernican moments.
Thanks
Sorry if I have failed you
On a massive tangent…..
Gary Davies whilst having his pre Vine’s show chat with Vine expressed his opinion that the EU was punishing the UL for leaving and went on to say that one of his biggest gripes was that when EU citizens fly into the UK they can use our passport ‘things’ but we can’t use theirs. Jeremy responded by saying that there was always going to be some gentle waterboarding.
Not exactly balanced.
UK not UL.
Pettiness of Brexiteer level
No-one bothered to mention that it is due to the Schengen area having rules on how long 3rd country citizens can stay, so passport stamping is needed, but, as when we were in the EU, our government doesn’t bother checking things like that for EU cirizens as it would be too much work.