Rachel Reeves will be leant on by City figures to deregulate the sector ahead of her keynote speech this Thursday. But transparency campaigners warn too many are falling victim to predatory finance firms
Economy
11th of November 2024 My Lords, there are many things to welcome in this Budget, particularly on the spending side. I am less keen on some of the tax proposals, which seem to be mean-minded and counterproductive, such as the tax on knowledge. The spending commitments are important because they reverse the disastrous policy of … Continue reading Speech in the House of Lords – Autumn Budget 2024
Trump’s election victory is not the momentous or unexpected event many have made it out to be. It is, however, a sure sign of a slowly decaying society where frustration, anger and bewilderment are at epidemic proportions. The unavoidable question is: how has this man managed to get re-elected President of the United States? After Continue reading »
Somewhat surprisingly, careful analysis and modelling show that Trump’s crude attempt to Make America Great Again, mainly damages the American economy. The rest of the world, and Australia in particular, should proceed with their own business as usual. At this stage it is difficult to know how America under Trump will relate to the rest Continue reading »
The need to restructure energy planning and regulation in Australia has been apparent for over a decade, since households and businesses began rapidly installing solar panels on their roofs, flipping the traditional one-way, large-scale supply of electricity into a two-way, consumer-led transition. There needs to be thorough expert consideration on how best to facilitate this Continue reading »
Just like in the US , the next Australian election will be decided by the cost of living. Both the US and Australian economies have performed quite well, in difficult circumstances. However, the lesson from the US election is that both Governments need to tell their story better. It seems likely that the core issues Continue reading »
We in the West have a propensity noted by the rest of the world, to be rather self-congratulatory about our political and economic systems and our accompanying wish to pressure the rest of the world to try to be more like us. Continue reading »
The recent BRICS summit in Kazan summed up the results of the Russian presidency of the organisation in 2024. John Shipton, an Australian activist and the father of WikiLeaks creator Julian Assange, also took part in the event. In July, Assange was released from a British prison after many years in prison and returned to Continue reading »
The global consumer-capitalist machine is well-programmed to consume the planet in its quest to produce ever-more stuff. Avoiding pollution is incompatible with its present functioning. If we want to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions we need to know how to get inside the machine and turn it off, or transform it. The 2024 State of Continue reading »
The 2024 Nobel Prize for economics has gone to two economists for work on why some poor nations prosper while others fail and remain poor. But it is their 540 page account that fails, by not mentioning the real causes that are foundational in the global economic system. The main statement of the case is Continue reading »