A nice clear summary from Positive Money of why the reported economic recovery is an illusion, and why we will suffer from ever-increasing debt until we change the way that money is created and used.

Scottish Independence: An Emotional Appeal

In a previous article about Scottish independence I pointed out that the only definite outcome from a “yes” vote in next year’s referendum will be a negotiation to disentangle the political and bureaucratic ties between Scotland and the rest of the UK. Beyond that no-one knows what an independent Scotland will actually look like or…

Here’s a very clear, easy to read analysis of the utter failure of the UK government’s current economic policy. Demonstrating, by the way, that economists are perfectly capable of talking sense in language that we can understand (thanks Ann Pettifor and Jeremy Smith).

A studiously thoughtful article from Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph about the ideological battle between followers of Keynes, Hayek, and Friedman, all of whom have been proved wrong in one way or another. When will the debate move on from dead men’s flawed theories to something pragmatic that might actually solve our problems?

Abolish Savings? Are These Economists Bonkers?

Over the last couple of years I have come to the conclusion that economics, as it is taught and practised by most academics, is a load of nonsense. This article by Canadian professor Nick Rowe, in which he argues that “saving” should be abolished, is a classic example of taking an interesting idea and strangling…

I’m very harsh on economists in my book but here’s some good stuff from Bill Black at Naked Capitalism, proving that there are some diamonds amongst the dross.

:: For anyone who’s following the $15/hour minimum wage debate in the USA here’s an interesting article from an Australian academic published on Truthout.

Here’s some straight talking by Ross Ashcroft of The Renegade Economist about UK economic policy. He’s absolutely certain that the people in charge have no interest in energising the productive economy, preferring to feed the greed of what he calls the “rentiers” – people who extract money from from the system in whatever way they…

I came across this quote from FDR’s 1944 State of the Union address and thought it was worth repeating: “… true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. … People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.”

George Osborne appears to be having some success in boosting the housing market if this report in the Mail Online is to be believed. Why on earth anyone would want to claim the credit for inflating the price of houses when we haven’t yet recovered from an economic crisis that was caused in no small…