Quantitative easing: giving cash to the public would have been more effective
The impact of quantitative easing was blunted by unconventional monetary policies and conservative fiscal policiesIts 2008. Your name is Ben Bernanke, the worlds most powerful central banker. The...
View ArticleSimon Stevens, PFI and the need for realism about NHS funding |@guardianletters
Perhaps Simon Stevens should rethink his defence of private finance initiative contracts in the NHS (The NHS is on life support. Can this plan revive it?, 24 October). Last year it required a massive...
View ArticlePaying the price of war: Britain makes good on historic debts
Debts from bonds issued in 1927 by Winston Churchill going back to the South Sea Bubble, Napoleonic and Crimean warsA century on, the UK government will start paying back the nations first world war...
View ArticleCalm down, financial markets: the message on UK and US growth is good |...
The US has stopped printing money, and both countries seem likely soon to be back in step with modest, gradual interest rate risesThe special relationship between the US and the UK when it comes to...
View ArticleDavid Camerons tax credo is incoherent, immoral and economically illiterate |...
The prime ministers claims about taxation were wrong on every single economic and moral groundBelieve the prime minister and it is morality, rather than economics, which requires him to cut taxes. In...
View ArticleEven in an election year, nothing succeeds in Congress like failure
In the months leading up to the midterm elections, Congress has been haunted by doomed financial legislation introduced to make a pointMinimum wage is on the ballot in four states a $1 increase wont...
View ArticleMemo to George Osborne: austerity has failed | Richard Seymour
The Tories and their Lib Dem allies might have hoped to go into 2015 with the recession fading and enough voters feeling wealthier. Its not looking that wayElection year draws near. If George Osborne...
View ArticleAn economic system that supports people and planet is still possible
No new vision arose from the ashes after the financial crisis exposed the failings of todays economic system, but while the task is daunting its still within reachI direct an organisation with an...
View ArticleWhat if Britain left the EU?
Budget rows, referendum pledges, Ukip on the rise is Britain heading for an EU exit? It would certainly be a messy divorce after 44 years. But what would it mean for our politics, prosperity and...
View ArticlePlaying catch up: UK warned to invest more in innovation and technology
Hermann Hauser believes Britain needs to open more Catapult centres, to reap the rewards of its leading scientific baseThe UK must double innovation funding and set up a string of new technology...
View ArticleTory MP seeks tax on sexy films: from the archive, 6 November 1976
If people must really see X or AA films then I think they should not object to paying a little extra for the privilege - Richard Body MPA Conservative MP is asking the Chancellor to impose a tax on the...
View ArticleNorthern England to get new train links to combat economic decline
Leeds-Manchester-Sheffield train link by 2025 will add £6.7bn to northern economy and create 30,000 jobs across the northPlans to create a northern economic powerhouse to rival London will need to cope...
View ArticleFirst Group chief condemns Labours urge to control transport
Company bidding for East Coast mainline franchise accuses party of fixation on public sector involvement in rail servicesThe boss of FirstGroup has slammed Labours urge to control transport services...
View ArticleAfrica rising? Let's be Afro-realistic
Despite booming economies, the middle class is still in poverty. Can an honest narrative encourage equal growth?The notion of Africa rising is understandably alluring. The vision of hundreds of...
View ArticleUK trade deficit widens to £9.8bn in September
Economists had forecast a smaller goods deficit of £9.4bn and said it was part of a wider trend of disappointing trade dataBritains trade deficit widened in September after imports rose more than...
View ArticleRadical new economic system will emerge from collapse of capitalism
Political adviser and author Jeremy Rifkin believes that the creation of a super internet heralds new economic system that could solve societys sustainability challengesAt the very moment of its...
View ArticleThe Observer view on the future facing Britains ageing population | Observer...
With imagination, we can all benefit from the baby boomers talentsOn Thursday, in Florida, the International Council on Active Ageing holds its annual conference, attracting 9,000 members from 37...
View ArticleWherever you build new infrastructure, jobs will follow. So build it in the...
The pressure on the south-east to expand is unnecessary. State investment could put northern cities centre stageBritains failure to press ahead with large-scale infrastructure projects is puzzling. The...
View ArticleAre low-paid, outraged workers ready to fight back? | Paul Mason
Wages have been falling for years and inequality is growing. But the dissatisfaction of workers may finally force a revoltIt was all going to script until the rich guy in the pinstripe suit said young...
View ArticleDavid Cameron tells CBI: EU referendum won't harm the UK economy video
David Cameron tells assembled business leaders that a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union will not harm the UK's economy. In a speech to the Confederation of British Industry on...
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