The reason why I thought of asking on this blog whether more polls might be popular is because the response to those we have put on YouTube has been both interesting and high.
I am aware that the audience on this blog has different priorities and interests from the people watching the YouTube videos we make (and most people who come here seem to read the transcripts and not watch the videos), but I thought that for precisely that reason the most recent poll that I put on YouTube might be worth replicating here to see if there is a different outcome:
The videos on this channel are usually on topics that I think are most relevant on the day that we turn the camera on. But what topics are most important to you?
- Economic thinking, such as modern monetary theory? (41%, 112 Votes)
- UK politics and possible policy reforms? (36%, 97 Votes)
- UK economic issues, including financial markets? (21%, 56 Votes)
- US politics and economics / Trump? (2%, 5 Votes)
Total Voters: 270
Loading ...What I would add is that the preferences identified on that YouTube poll are, so far, not a good reflection of the topics that are the most popular on the channel. Market research is not always reliable, but I do think it is helpful nonetheless.
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Hi Richard,
As always, thanks for the work you put into making the world a better place.
Before our welfare state was dismantled, piece by piece, we had a fairly good overall working system for health, education and social security for those in need. What we hear now is always the same cry of “no money”. Since we had these thing before, there’s no reason why we couldn’t have them again.
My suggestion then is a video, or two, on how a welfare state is created, funded and run. It might be of interest to the mass of people who seem completely unaware of it. Is there then a way to establish a modern ground up system using technology unavailable to the original founders. A fresh look at an old problem.
Thanks for listening
Geoff
No on my list
I would like to vote for all those issues as ultimately they are all linked.
Also of course there is always that MacMillan Quote, ‘Events dear boy, Events…..’ which clearly will to some extent be driving your writing
Right now it is!
Like John, I think ‘all the above’ is the best answer, but I voted for MMT because I think that is the most important message to get across to politicians, journalists and the general public, and the subject on which Richard can make most impact.
Noted
I too think that all are important, but ‘went for’ MMT as it is, to me, the closest to covering all – please keep up the ‘covering all that matters’ – thanks
Thanks
John Boxall, Agreed! All of the above! Possibly less on the US, except on areas where we can try to do something. 90% of US is just a dire warning which we can’t alter.
I didn’t vote because all are important to me. It is rare that you post something that is not of interest to me … your ear is well tuned to the issues of the day. I read your blog every day (almost) … and your thoughts and analytics give me plenty to think about. I spent far more time reading your blog each day rather than reading MMS which mostly has me spitting expletives. Keep up the fantastic work Richard.
Thanks….appreciated
I’d like to see more videos aimed at “beginners” or the uninitiated, particularly, how people may be affected.
Engaging more youngsters can only be good,
☑️What is economics, why should we care?
☑️What is political economics?
☑️Micro- vs macroeconomics.
☑️Balancing the books?
☑️Socialism vs capitalism. What aspects are good or bad?
☑️What are schools of economic thought?
Thanks Ian. All noted.
All noted
The same as John Boxall for me. As I have said previously, this site is my ‘newspaper’ – it also has nice sideline in photography and trains. It’s all I need.
Thanks
I did rather overdo it this morning
Having coffee between birding right now…
…oh, and music!! Mustn’t forget that!
it’s a specific request but I’d appreciate a video about housing. Specifically about how the housing crisis in the UK isn’t simply a supply side issue (we have a similar level of housing stock to other countries who have much lower rents). I’ve read it’s due to the fact housing is used as both an asset and a consumption good moreso in this country (IE: house ownership as a kind of pension) than others which puts alot of pressure on housing costs.
On my list now.
Thank you! Always struggled to get my head round the complexity of it.
A video dedicated to growth would be welcomed. Is it a useful measure? What is the best way to measure it? Can a steady state economy be sustained? Would degrowth ultimately collapse any economy? Is a steady state economy, or degrowth, compatible with capitalism / neoliberalism? The Big Picture around “growth” … noting that in recent times UK growth is looking more like a steady state economy than anything else.
Noted
Thanks
On the llst
Be like John Campbell and follow the views.
Trmup + New Angle is what gets the views. A recent example being the backlash from Canadians against tariffs by the US.
But don’t make it boring – Trump is a racist, or Trump is a fascist are not original or interesting thoughts. Trump has a special affection for Scotland, or Trump likes to surround himself with much younger and beautiful people, or Trump didn’t write the Art of the Deal – they’ve not been covered much.
Your endless Trump videos you send out in a pursuit of clicks isn’t popular
You trolls really are stupid.
You can click on the YouTubes on my channel to see which vidoes are the most popular – and they are. So, politely, you’re talking complete nonsense.
Your problem is you don’t like me meeting market demand. Why does that offend you? Is that I understand markets better than you do?
I prefer PR to FPTP polling. My ranking would have been
1. MMT/economics
2.UK political stuff (whatever is topical) & policy discussions
3. UK economics/markets
4. Trump/US
1 & 3 so I can learn (I’ve learned a LOT here, it is a lively stimulating, challenging but safe space, so I can be honest and forthright.
2 because I love politics!
4 least favourite, because it scares the living daylights out of me and what can I do anyway?
With all of them, I’m interested in the “moral” dimension. WHY do we care about this. Pragmatism? Utilitarianism? Ideological commitment (eg: socialist or humanist ethic, or, in my case, Jesus-focussed religious belief)? Is gross inequality WRONG? Why?
WHY do we care about social justice? Obviously we all have different motivations, what is the basis of our co-belligerency? Or should we stay ideologically pure (and without influence) in our tribes?
KUTGW!
Noted!
Only 1% voted for trump videos on this site. That’s probably the point being made.
Agreed
But YouTubers don’t come here
And I was seeking alternative views
The reason that I prefer the blog to the You Tube channel is that I find myself unable to resist the links at the side and end up spending half an hour that I can ill afford watching Dave Allen or Spike Milligan.
They are never offered to me
Almost all my YouTube watching is on how to make better videos. Even this weekend, hours have been spent on that.
All the above really but voted for US/Trump due to the present existential risk to world order.
I went with MMT; but would have chosen climate, had it been an option.
Another topic where disinformation and misinformation are all too common.
Interesting – and we have dsicussed it here, only today
I voted economic thinking etc. No surprise there! Just an aside, as well as following this blog I tend now to watch and to comment, if at all, on your YouTube channel. Two reasons. I. The blog had some great contributors and there’s not much I can add. I also feel that it’s kinda preaching to the already converted.
2. The YouTube channel videos, as I’m sure you’ve noted by the comments, has a completely different audience and I personally feel that my commenting there, when I understand myself and am in agreement, might help get the message through to more.
Simon
I have noted and appreciate that. As yet I have just not had time to engage there. So, thank you.
Richard
I’d prefer to read you in text. Time is important and I can read your words much faster than I can hear you speak them. Really appreciate your work.
We will always deliver text as well.
I would really like to see something on economic misinformation. How relevant is the GDP figure used? What does 0.1% growth really mean? What are inflation figures used for and are they fit for purpose. Why does the government deliberately issue misleading information. Perhaps that might be several somethings!
Noted
Thank you
1. More on MMT. How we could move from our neoliberal rut to MMT. How it would deliver growth.
2 Banks. Dominated by the big 5 they fail to service / support the economy.
How our economy would benefit if, like Germany, we had independent regional banks – Over 1200 banks attract 60% of deposits. Banking reform and how it could benefit the economy.
3. More on the 7 trillion (?) pensions industry and how it must be used to support investment in the economy.
4. More on the interest being paid to banks by the government on QE deposits and why we are not following the ECB example. What £ could be saved.
5. More on the costs – hidden costs – of Brexit and its impact on the City and investments.
6. How ‘financial services’ could be reformed to benefit the common good rather than just the interests of the wealthy.
7. What the government should do now to tax wealth properly. Suggest a programme of tax changes.
Hope that’s enough!
Best regards
John
Noted!
Have you read the Taxing Wealth Report?
Yes, many times – and promoted it widely. It’s just that I think that the re-emphasis of the points I mentioned could be very useful right now.
Thank you Richard for all you do and this discussion. I’m just starting to become confident enough to discuss some of this with friends and family but find the gulf between what I’m saying and their understanding is huge and get met with incredulous looks.
The common place thinking seems to be that we need growth to pay down government debt, there is no government money for public investment as we have to borrow on capricious international markets – which are looking at where they can get the best returns – to pay off our debt. There is an ill-defined fear that if our debt gets too high something awful will happen to our economy so it’s very risky to borrow too much. This is a firmly held belief that is difficult to counter in conversation.
At best we can borrow to invest but not for day to day spending as that is a slippery slope to bankruptcy. Re-distribution doesn’t work because the wealthy can always take their money elsewhere so the Government has no alternative but to beg for privately funded growth (Heathrow 3rd runway – Rosebank) while trying to mitigate the worst of austerity. This requires tax cuts and deregulation to ensure the private money flows to UK and not elsewhere. Sounds familiar I’m sure.
The underlying thinking seems to be we are in a competitive bond market and a competitive investment market and we need to be able to attract investment in these markets. The potential power of the Bank of England to manage this in conjunction with the Treasury is not known about at all. The Bank of England is seen to be at the mercy of the international markets.
Chipping away at it bit by bit as you are doing I think is the only hope. But it does occur to me it might be useful to play devils advocate with some of these arguments setting up a proxy debate. Might help us all. Just a thought arising from my struggles. It’s hard to get people to engage sufficiently to want to actually learn more – creating sufficient curiosity and credibility for people to take that first step is really important.
Sorry – your comment slipped through my net.
On my list.
Can you do something about the economic implications of climate change. For instance I saw it reported recently that the value of US domestic property will decline by 1.45 trillion by 2050. Insurers are being hammered by claims as a result of property claims. Will they even survive? Paul Krugman wrote an article in New York Times shortly before the election saying US government must take action to deal with affects of climate change to avoid devastation to the US economy. These are major issues but receive little attention in the media
Noted – and I like the theme
Like others, I had difficulty choosing one category, but chose MMT as I see it’s relevant to all that happens in other economic spheres. However, what if there is a prolonged period of deflation? – I have been trying to use my likely incomplete and probably partly inaccurate understanding of MMT to fathom out what will happen to the economy and the choices that will have to be made.
My tentative conclusion, if the downturn is prolonged, is that the government would need to use QE type methods. But this needs the BoE and the Treasury to work together; but the current BoE attitude show that there can be no guarantees in this respect. Thus, bringing the BoE back under direct Treasury control – in advance – is an essential step. This seems unlikely given the political attitudes I see at present.
I’ll muse on that
It might be useful show the consequences of neolibrel companies. two examples could be:
Water companies who will not fix leaks because it will not get any income for fixing them. The CEO’s bonas is based on the price of the companies shares so he will spend all the money from the income to buy up shares. When that runs out he will borrow money to buy shares. When that runs out the government will give him extra money by increasing water rates to by more shares and get more bonas.
HS2. The contracts with the contractors are “Design and Build” and payment is cost plus. This means that it is profitable to maximise the cost of the construction and skimp on materials. The treasury had the brilliant idea of doubling the construction time and very possibly the cost. The overheads (managers) can not be reduced, extra time means, the costs will go up even more due to interest rates. Look on the plus side the contractors will be rubbing the hands with glee all the way to the bank. I bet the original cost budget has been shredded. Why set up HS2? Network Rail should have set up a project department using in-house expertise.
It is not just UK, in Ireland the new children’s hospital is estimated to be 3 times over budget and has all ready 14 finish dates.
Thanks
All four are of interest and I really appreciate the insightful analysis of them. However, I voted economic thinking/MMT because it offers an alternative economic view with possibility of a way out of the mess we are in. The mainstream media offers plenty of analysis but almost never challenges the accepted thinking, so the time spent offering an alternative is especially important.
I tend to agree with you.
How to do that to best effect is what is taking time to think about.
Thanks your forum and Stefanie Kelton I have a basic understanding of MMT but if i was to propose it in an argument with a semi articulate right winger I would suspect they have some counter arguments that sound plausible, even incontrovertible to someone with my sciolistic knowledge base. What would you expect to be the typical counter arguments against MMT and how would you counter them?
Noted
BTW, I voted for MMT
I have two requests or suggestions.
One is for some explainers that we could use with MP’s.
Another more personally is about trade, balance of payments and money supply.
Thanks
I’m wondering whether it would be possible for you to make the economic case (or not) for some of the climate mitigations and adaptations that we hear about. I’m thinking carbon capture and off-setting, on-demand public transport, libraries of things, right to repair and repair cafes, personal carbon budgets etc. There’s many more, this is just what I could think of this morning. I’d like to be more informed about what could be positive developments worth pursuing and what is just greenwash.
On my list now
Have you heard of CAP … Christians against poverty. They run courses as well as helping people out of debt. Would be great if young people in schools were taught about money and budgeting etc and had a better understanding of economics and the impact on real life and the world around us.
Do they have relevant materials?
There are online practical resources as well as mentoring. Their vision is for everyone to experience equal dignity, freedom and opportunity. Poverty robs far too many people of life in all its fullness.
They are well thought of and regularly recommended by Martin Lewis. (moneysavingsexpert website)
https://www.londonworld.com/news/people/martin-lewis-recommends-these-charities-if-struggling-with-debt-3992092
On financial education see here:
https://capuk.org/search?q=education
https://capuk.org/news-and-blog/cap-responds-to-the-education-committees-financial-education-inquiry
https://capuk.org/news-and-blog/cap-responds-to-an-inquiry-on-the-challenges-facing-delivery-of-financial-education-within-schools
Resources for children and youth available here via a webform:
https://capuk.org/money-and-debt-advice/practical-resources/receive-your-free-children-and-youth-budgeting-resources
I have not seen this material.
I worked alongside a local CAP branch when I was running a food bank pre 2017.
I commend them as Martin Lewis does.
They are an openly Christian organisation, and unashamedly so, but they are also inclusive.
They are also extra-ordinarily effective.
Thanks
I have registered for the information.
I now have the materials – and will give them a look soon. Thank you.
[…] the result of polls both here and on YouTube that suggested I should concentrate on educational-style videos, I still put out […]
The blogger is using polls to gauge audience interest in video topics, noting a difference between YouTube and blog preferences. They’ve found that what people say they want doesn’t always match actual engagement. To refine content strategy, they suggest analyzing engagement data, running polls, and experimenting with topics.
Wow
Spot the AI generated, troll-placed, comment.