http://www.scottsantens.com/minimum-wages-vs-universal-basic-income Scott Santens explains how basic income trumps minimum wage.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/basic-income-tax-subsidies-minimum-wage-by-robert-skidelsky-2015-07 Here’s Robert Skidelsky asking useful questions about the wisdom of promoting a higher minimum wage when we should really be moving towards universal basic income.
Not Enough Money? You Have Got To Be Joking.
Late at night on the 20th of July the Conservative government’s Welfare Reform Bill was endorsed by the House of Commons thanks to the abstention of most of the official opposition’s MPs. The acting Labour leader, Harriet Harman, instructed her party to abstain because she thinks that the Labour Party will be condemned to the…
In Search Of A Good Story
Last month’s general election for the UK parliament provided a harsh reminder to some political parties that electoral success is all about telling a good story. The narrative has to be one that the electorate wants to believe or, at the very least, one that appeals to their common sense. The Scottish National Party won…
An Open Letter To NHS Highland
Over the last few months I have been involved in a campaign that is asking for an independent review of local health and social care services. The campaign was sparked by the local health board – NHS Highland – announcing that both community hospitals in the area will be closed and replaced by a single new…
https://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/the-tories-and-welfare-machiavellian-or-just-muddling-through/ This from Rick at Flip Chart Fairytales, as far as I can see, is an accurate interpretation of the Conservative Party’s proposed deficit reduction plan. Pretty much like its last deficit reduction plan, the one that it got elected to deliver in 2010. The one that said the deficit would be eliminated by 2015.…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevekeen/2015/02/28/what-is-money-and-how-is-it-created/ This is Steve Keen at his best, explaining what money actually is, rather than what most economists, politicians and commentators like to pretend it is. Understanding the true nature of money is the first step towards making money work properly for all of us.
https://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/are-the-chancellors-spending-cuts-feasible/ Here’s another good article from Rick at Flip Chart Fairy Tales about the spending cuts being proposed by the UK government in order to eliminate the deficit. He questions the feasibility of the scale of the cuts. Many of us also question the idea that any cuts are necessary, and what mechanism will replace…
Come the glorious day, someone else will pay
Originally posted on Flip Chart Fairy Tales:
Last week, the FT ran a series of articles on public spending cuts. Its summary: Half way through 9 years of planned austerity, the FT has uncovered that more than half of government cuts are still to come. And they will be twice as large as David Cameron’s…
A Problem With The Plumbing
All around the world government ministers are obsessed by the size of their deficits: the gap between revenue and spending that can only be filled by borrowing money. This year’s deficit gets added to all of the previous years’ deficits, which accumulate into an ever-expanding mountain of debt. As the debt piles up, so too…
