Prime

Argentina and the Donroe Doctrine

T. Sabri Öncü — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 16:12:02 +0000

Exchange Rates, External Constraints, and Social Stability By Matías Vernengo and T. Sabri Öncü This article first appeared in the Indian journal, Economic and Political Weekly, on 17 January 2026. Matías Vernengo (mv012@bucknell.edu) is with Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. T Sabri Öncü (sabri.oncu@gmail.com) is an independent economist based in Istanbul. Argentina’s current economic strategy, increasingly […]

The post Argentina and the Donroe Doctrine appeared first on Prime.

Today’s Civilisational Conflict

Michael Hudson — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:30:47 +0000

This article first appeared in the Economic and Political Weekly on 11 October 2025. Michael Hudson (hudson.islet@gmail.com) is with the Institute for the Study of Long-term Economic Trends and a distinguished research professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Abstract: United States’ evangelistic rhetoric describes the imminent political and economic fracture of the […]

The post Today’s Civilisational Conflict appeared first on Prime.

UK workers’ pay over 6 years – just about keeping up with inflation (but one sector does much better…)

Jeremy Smith — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 22:30:51 +0000

Taking the big picture, we can say for sure that those doing very well out of our generally stagnant economy are overwhelmingly in the business service sectors, whose average pay – which was already far greater than others at the start-point - has grown very substantially in real terms
All other sectors lag far behind… and as for all the earlier nonsense from Tory Ministers and press about public sector workers causing or stoking inflation, we can see clearly that this was, and always has been just that – nonsense.

The post UK workers’ pay over 6 years – just about keeping up with inflation (but one sector does much better…) appeared first on Prime.

Argentina’s Economic Shock Therapy: Assessing the Impact of Milei’s Austerity Policies and the Road Ahead

T. Sabri Öncü — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 21:35:41 +0000

By Cem Oyvat, T Sabri Öncü and Joel Rabinovich A slightly edited version of this article first appeared in the Indian journal, Economic & Political Weekly, on 15 February 2025.Cem Oyvat (c.oyvat@gre.ac.uk) teaches economics at the University of Greenwich. T. Sabri Öncü (sabri.oncu@gmail.com) is an independent economist based in İstanbul. Joel Rabinovich (joel.rabinovich@kcl.ac.uk) teaches international […]

The post Argentina’s Economic Shock Therapy: Assessing the Impact of Milei’s Austerity Policies and the Road Ahead appeared first on Prime.

The Poverty of Neo-liberal Economics: Lessons from Türkiye’s ‘Unorthodox’ Central Banking Experiment

T. Sabri Öncü — Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:01:56 +0000

T. Sabri Öncü and Güney Düzçay This article first appeared in the Indian journal, Economic & Political Weekly, on 14 September 2024. Güney Düzçay (guneyduzcay@gmail.com) and T. Sabri Öncü (sabri.oncu@gmail.com) are economists based in Türkiye. Historically, central banks, like the Bank of England, were primarily established to finance wars and manage government finances—serving as the […]

The post The Poverty of Neo-liberal Economics: Lessons from Türkiye’s ‘Unorthodox’ Central Banking Experiment appeared first on Prime.

Global Economic Governance: What’s “Growth” Got to Do with It?

Ann Pettifor — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 18:19:13 +0000

An obsession with growth has generated massive inequality, undermined global economic stability, and weakened faith in democracy. Reversing these trends requires reining in the power of financial capital and managing global trade flows.

The post Global Economic Governance: What’s “Growth” Got to Do with It? appeared first on Prime.

From Chile in 1973 to Argentina and Türkiye in 2023: Economic Genocide Continues

T. Sabri Öncü — Fri, 24 May 2024 16:10:30 +0000

In Memory of Andre Gunder Frank A slightly edited version of this article first appeared in the Economic & Political Weekly on 11 May 2024. Economic Genocide The concept of economic genocide originated in an article published in 1976 in this journal [Economic & Political Weekly]. In his open letter titled “Economic Genocide in Chile: […]

The post From Chile in 1973 to Argentina and Türkiye in 2023: Economic Genocide Continues appeared first on Prime.

India’s Inclusion in the JP Morgan GBI-EM (bond) Indices

T. Sabri Öncü — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 15:00:21 +0000

A Path to Eden or Just Another Sin? Güney Düzçay and T. Sabri Öncü This article first appeared in the 24 November 2023 issue of the Indian journal, Economic and Political Weekly. Introduction The concept of “original sin” was introduced by Eichengreen and Hausmann (1999), defining it as “a situation in which the domestic currency […]

The post India’s Inclusion in the JP Morgan GBI-EM (bond) Indices appeared first on Prime.

Monetary Policy Debates in the Age of Deglobalisation: the Turkish Experiment – III

Hasan Cömert & T. Sabri Öncü — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 14:50:46 +0000

A slightly edited version of this article first appeared in the Economic and Political Weekly on 22 July 2023. Summary: This article is the third and last in a series of articles on monetary policy debates in the age in which deglobalisation became a buzzword. Here, we continue our discussion of the ongoing Turkish monetary […]

The post Monetary Policy Debates in the Age of Deglobalisation: the Turkish Experiment – III appeared first on Prime.

Blame economists for decades of false security

Ann Pettifor — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 17:21:45 +0000

The Financial Times's Lex column is legendary. The editor, Jonathan Guthrie, argues that it is “the oldest and arguably most influential column of its kind” having first appeared in 1945. Lex is written by a collective - there are no author bylines - and the column is for “anyone interested in the story of global capital viewed through the prism of corporate news.”
In other words, Lex is for the very serious people.
So it was with some interest my attention was drawn to the latest ‘Lex in depth article’, titled ‘how investors are underpricing climate risks'. The Lex collective, it appears, is uneasy...

The post Blame economists for decades of false security appeared first on Prime.

Feeling the pay pain

Jeremy Smith — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 15:45:33 +0000

May 2023. The UK economy struggles along, shedding another 0.1% of GDP. The 'size' of the economy, measured as GDP, is a fraction (0.7% to be precise) greater than in May 2019, 4 long years ago. It's still smaller than in the second half of 2019. Even worse, average real pay (i.e. after allowing for CPI inflation) is a fraction lower than it was in 2019 - in May 209, £499, in May 2023, £497. But that average masks a great deal of variety, between those whose pay has kept up with inflation (and in some cases moved ahead of it), and those whose real pay has fallen sharply and dangerously. To be precise, it is those working in manufacturing and in the public sector whose average real pay has drastically fallen.

The post Feeling the pay pain appeared first on Prime.

The UK economy – stalled and unhealthy

Jeremy Smith — Tue, 16 May 2023 16:22:25 +0000

The UK economy remains stuck. Last Friday, the latest GDP numbers for the UK (first estimate for Q1 2023) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that the UK economy is still a little shy of where it was back in late 2019. Household consumption is lower than in 2019 and GDP per head has fallen. And the ONS-measured output of health and social work activities is still over 10% below its 2019 level. A malfunctioning, underpaid and under-invested health service is a symbol of a wider malfunctioning, real wage-reducing, under-invested economy.

The post The UK economy – stalled and unhealthy appeared first on Prime.

UK – bottom of the international economic league table

Jeremy Smith — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 20:52:10 +0000

There are still a lot of arguments on Twitter as to whether the UK is doing ‘better’ or ‘worse’ in terms of GDP than, in particular, our EU neighbours, and the G7 in general. (Yes we know GDP is a wholly inadequate measure, but it’s still the common currency in our political debate, and we […]

The post UK – bottom of the international economic league table appeared first on Prime.

Monetary Policy Debates in the Age of Deglobalisation: the Turkish Experiment-II

Hasan Cömert & T. Sabri Öncü — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 18:36:34 +0000

By Hasan Cömert & T. Sabri Öncü This article first appeared in the Economic & Political Weekly on 18 March 2023. This article is the second in a series of articles on monetary policy debates in the age when deglobalisation became a buzzword. Here, we begin our discussion of the ongoing economic experiment in Turkey […]

The post Monetary Policy Debates in the Age of Deglobalisation: the Turkish Experiment-II appeared first on Prime.

Settling the public sector pay disputes now – modest cost, big benefits

Jeremy Smith — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 16:07:22 +0000

Another week goes by. Hundreds of thousands of workers, mainly public sector, on strike last week, and again this week. Pay deals way below inflation. Zero movement from government. Continuing disruption and decay. Why can’t a settlement be reached? Yet settling the pay disputes at a reasonable level would have no discernible impact on inflation, little or no impact on taxpayers – and on the contrary, would tend to boost the economy. It would, above all, start to restore some stability to our public services, whose rapid decay is so visible to all.

The post Settling the public sector pay disputes now – modest cost, big benefits appeared first on Prime.

Waiting for Deglobalisation – I

Ahmet Öncü & T.Sabri Öncü — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 18:44:47 +0000

This article first appeared in the Economic & Political Weekly on 12 November 2022. Monetary Policy Debates in the Age of Deglobalisation This article is the first in a series of two articles on monetary policy debates in the age in which deglobalisation is a buzzword. The ongoing monetary policy debates of the age will […]

The post Waiting for Deglobalisation – I appeared first on Prime.

To Loot or Not to Loot? How Public-Private Partnerships Harmed Turkey

T. Sabri Öncü — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 14:54:54 +0000

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 18 July 2022. A Murder in Konya Konya is a province in Turkey. On 6 July 2022, about an hour before I started writing this article, a murder news hit the Turkish pages of the internet: “In Konya City Hospital, a patient shot and […]

The post To Loot or Not to Loot? How Public-Private Partnerships Harmed Turkey appeared first on Prime.

Changes in the UK labour market from 2019 to 2022 – our new report

Jeremy Smith — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 13:34:44 +0000

Our new research report looks at a wide range of issues - workforce size, economically active/inactive, employees/self-employed, full/ part-time workers. It also examines data on developments in nominal and ‘real’ (after allowing for inflation) pay.
On real pay, it shows that over a long period, the sector whose pay has increased most by far is the Finance & Business sector.

The post Changes in the UK labour market from 2019 to 2022 – our new report appeared first on Prime.

Central bankers, inflation “cousins” & the real threat to the global economy

Ann Pettifor — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 14:01:03 +0000

"....The Great Inflation (of the 1970s) was not usually described in terms of asset bubbles. When people look back on the 1970s, they tend to talk about only one half of the disaster: the shocking inflation of consumer prices, for things like meat and gasoline. But the Great Inflation was so destructive because it was actually two kinds of inflation that were intertwined, and which fed off each other. The other one was the inflation of asset prices, a phenomenon that later became the most important feature of American economic life. Asset inflation was the force behind the dot-com crash of 2000, the housing market crash of 2008, and the unprecedented market crash of 2020, which was precipitated by the coronavirus outbreak."

The post Central bankers, inflation “cousins” & the real threat to the global economy appeared first on Prime.

Lending and Profiteering – Lessons from Argentina’s Recent Debt Problems

Kunibert Raffer — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 21:06:11 +0000

Over 30 years ago, Kunibert Raffer (University of Vienna) was first to propose a fair and transparent arbitration process between debtors and creditors for resolving sovereign insolvency, by analogy with Chapter 9 US Bankruptcy Code that provides for an orderly resolution in cases of municipal bankruptcy. (See his paper “What’s good for the United States […]

The post Lending and Profiteering – Lessons from Argentina’s Recent Debt Problems appeared first on Prime.

The conferment of an honorary doctorate at Helsinki University: my speech.

Ann Pettifor — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 10:04:37 +0000

"Today the fight for climate justice is at the heart of my work. And again the fight is for the truth....The UN's IPCC has used careful scientific evidence to outline the truth of the ecological crisis we face..we nevertheless persist in denial. Far from lowering greenhouse gas emissions, socieities, including mine, have allowed emissions to continue rising, even while boasting that we have cut, or are cutting emissions."

The post The conferment of an honorary doctorate at Helsinki University: my speech. appeared first on Prime.

The UK’s public spending led recovery – before the cost-of-living deluge strikes

Jeremy Smith — Wed, 18 May 2022 21:50:56 +0000

In this article I look mainly at the UK’s GDP position. While the ONS first estimate for Q1 2022 shows that it is now 0.6% higher than the pre-pandemic peak in Q3 of 2019, this is entirely down to increased government consumption and investment, mainly health-related. But for this real-terms increase, the economy (measured in […]

The post The UK’s public spending led recovery – before the cost-of-living deluge strikes appeared first on Prime.

A War No One Can Win – Ukraine and the Weaponisation of Everything

T. Sabri Öncü — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 18:09:45 +0000

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 19 March 2022. Russian Invasion of Ukraine The Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022. Since then, several thousand combatants from both sides and more than 500 Ukrainian civilians have died, bombs have ruined many cities, and more than two million Ukrainians, […]

The post A War No One Can Win – Ukraine and the Weaponisation of Everything appeared first on Prime.

Rentier capitalism is profoundly risk-averse

Ann Pettifor — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 17:57:36 +0000

The following article is based on my speech notes for a presentation to University College London’s Global Business School for Health on 22nd February 2022. The webinar was titled: Health Innovation through Capital and Private Equity Markets webinar. The question panellists were asked to address was this: “….whether capital and private equity markets are actually […]

The post Rentier capitalism is profoundly risk-averse appeared first on Prime.

Inflation and pay – Doing the wrong Something

Jeremy Smith — Sun, 06 Feb 2022 19:38:00 +0000

Last Wednesday’s Bank of England Monetary Policy report and MP Committee decisions brought this old memory back… like us 60 years ago, they felt they must respond to criticism by looking as though they were Doing Something, even if that Something made no positive contribution towards a solution. The problem for the Committee is that this is very much not a home-grown bout of inflation

The post Inflation and pay – Doing the wrong Something appeared first on Prime.

(How far) has Brexit affected UK GDP?

Jeremy Smith — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 16:36:03 +0000

The UK has since the Referendum in 2016 performed worse (in terms of GDP) than our European and US comparators, including the Euro Area. But until the pandemic struck, the difference was modest. We need to wait several months to see if the UK catches up as (if) we emerge from the negative economic impacts of COVID. It has always been PRIME's position that the really negative longer-term impacts of Brexit would lie in the political and diplomatic arenas, with a political lurch to the right.

The post (How far) has Brexit affected UK GDP? appeared first on Prime.

PRIME’s 2022 forecast

Ann Pettifor — Mon, 03 Jan 2022 22:18:54 +0000

UK trade performance on imports and exports has been among the worst of all OECD economies, with Brexit exacerbating the pandemic. This significant fall in total trade (compared to 2018) is an outcome, or consequence, of weak economic activity at home. Flat business investment is an ongoing key constraint. That is why we expect the UK will perform (in GDP terms) below the level of advanced economies in 2022.

The global financial crisis is not resolved and will be made worse by austerity. These developments reflect the endgame of an economic system that for 40 years has failed the world.

The post PRIME’s 2022 forecast appeared first on Prime.

Climate crisis, global debt, and the Fermi paradox – a proposal to the IMF

Ahmet Öncü & T.Sabri Öncü — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:28:16 +0000

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 13 November, 2021. Fermi Paradox In a recent article, Yıldızoğlu (2021) reminded us of the Fermi Paradox, which can be summarised as: Although the probability of the existence of other forms of life in the universe is sufficiently high, why have we not met […]

The post Climate crisis, global debt, and the Fermi paradox – a proposal to the IMF appeared first on Prime.

From Universal Basic Services to the Social Guarantee

Maeve Cohen — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 14:02:02 +0000

The Social Guarantee (SG) is an initiative hosted by PRIME to stimulate wider interest in Universal Basic Services (UBS) as a framework for policy and practice, to ensure that everyone has access to life’s essentials. Since our last update in February, the SG team has been busy working towards three strategic goals: to get the Social Guarantee on the agenda through public and political debate, to create alliances and networks, and to build knowledge through research.

The post From Universal Basic Services to the Social Guarantee appeared first on Prime.

Reclaiming Central Banks

Ann Pettifor — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 16:50:11 +0000

By serving private capital markets rather than citizens and taxpayers, central banks constitute a major hurdle to meaningful climate action.

A half-century after US President Richard Nixon and his advisers reshaped the international monetary system, we now need to transform it again.

Despite their technocratic mystique, central bankers are politically appointed public servants on government payrolls, and still derive their authority from the taxpayers in their respective jurisdictions. As former Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker observes, “the right to create money is always latently a power of taxation.”

The post Reclaiming Central Banks appeared first on Prime.

Industrial Policy’s Comeback?

Ann Pettifor — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 19:08:00 +0000

The answer cannot lie in the sound creation of an “industrial policy,” however ambitious. The globalized, financialized, monopoly capitalism of our day instead requires wholesale structural reform

The post Industrial Policy’s Comeback? appeared first on Prime.

Quantitative Easing: how the world got hooked on magicked-up money

Ann Pettifor — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 17:56:42 +0000

The world economy is a mess. The system, notionally governed by the invisible hand of the market, is no longer governed in any meaningful way: private excess puffs up bubbles that government indulgence ensures can never burst. We seem condemned to volatile commodity prices, wild capital flows, worsening imbalances in trade, taxation and income, and—before long—the next sovereign debt crisis.

The post Quantitative Easing: how the world got hooked on magicked-up money appeared first on Prime.

Why are the long-term US Treasury yields falling?

T. Sabri Öncü — Thu, 22 Jul 2021 10:29:42 +0000

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 17 July, 2021. First, let me answer the question in the title: I do not know because, according to conventional theories, when the realised and expected inflation rates are as high as they are in the United States (US), the long-term US Treasury yields should go […]

The post Why are the long-term US Treasury yields falling? appeared first on Prime.

Mr Keynes’ Revolution

Geoff Tily — Mon, 05 Jul 2021 20:15:58 +0000

Book Review, Mr Keynes’ Revolution: A Novel, E. J. Barnes, 2020, Greyfire publishing. In Mr Keynes’ Revolution, Emma Barnes makes Keynes the subject of a novel, and does so brilliantly. I cannot recommend the book highly enough to anyone interested in Keynes and wanting to get a sense of what he – and his economics […]

The post Mr Keynes’ Revolution appeared first on Prime.

Bill Gates: Save the jetset

Ann Pettifor — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 19:26:00 +0000

Gates, who is honest enough to admit he flew to the 2015 Paris COP21 negotiations in his private jet, displays a studied indifference to the role played by the world’s the billionaire class – the 1% - in precipitating ‘climate disaster’.

Fortunately, climate scientists have no such blind spot. As the physicist Prof Kevin Anderson explains, globally about 50% of all CO2 is emitted, not by the average citizen, but by the top 10% of the population.

The post Bill Gates: Save the jetset appeared first on Prime.

Bill Gates: How to avoid a climate disaster: review for the Times Literary Supplement

Ann Pettifor — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 18:23:00 +0000

Fortunately, climate scientists have no such blind spot. They are clearer about the facts of greenhouse gas emissions. As the physicist Prof Kevin Anderson explains, globally about 50% of all CO2 is emitted, not by the average citizen, but by the top 10% of the population.

The post Bill Gates: How to avoid a climate disaster: review for the Times Literary Supplement appeared first on Prime.

The Battle of GameStop

Ahmet Öncü & T.Sabri Öncü — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 19:15:52 +0000

This article originally appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 13 March 2021. What the battle of GameStop has brought into light is that democracy in financial markets is just a myth: whoever controls the valves, controls the flow. The market-making and brokerage markets in the United States are heavily oligopolistic markets […]

The post The Battle of GameStop appeared first on Prime.

Spend for recovery & green future, raising corporation tax is ok, & there are no bond vigilantes

Jeremy Smith — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 00:31:40 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, my old shower broke down, needing replacement. Chatting to bathroom-kitchen store manager, I learnt that business was brisk for them, especially the demand for new bathrooms. In fact, very brisk. Lots of people wanting new bathrooms for their holiday to-be-let homes, with higher rents in mind, as well as for […]

The post Spend for recovery & green future, raising corporation tax is ok, & there are no bond vigilantes appeared first on Prime.

After the furlough ‘tide’ recedes?

Ann Pettifor — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 15:32:18 +0000

To paraphrase Warren Buffett: only when the furlough 'tide' goes out will we discover who has been swimming naked – which firms have gone bust and what proportion of those 4.5 million workers hang on to their jobs. The fear is that many companies will want to repair balance sheets and pay down debts to government by opting for redundancies and job losses. That is when the threat of mass unemployment will rise, disrupting the futures of millions, including a whole generation of young people (16-24) most vulnerable to confidence-sapping job losses and de-skilling.

The post After the furlough ‘tide’ recedes? appeared first on Prime.

Is Modern Monetary Theory suited for the EMU?

Robin Huguenot-Noel — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 19:18:49 +0000

In 2020, governments all over Europe and beyond enacted unprecedented fiscal stimulus to keep their economies afloat amidst the pandemic. By the end of the year, a country like France will have engaged or guaranteed at least EUR 300 billion, the equivalent of four years of income tax receipts. Institutions of the European Union (EU) […]

The post Is Modern Monetary Theory suited for the EMU? appeared first on Prime.

Billionaires & the pandemic: in happy alignment

Ann Pettifor — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 18:46:31 +0000

To succeed in its overarching goal, the lethal virus needs a hyperconnected, exploitative and unequal globalised system. To extract and hoard the world’s wealth, billionaires, private equity firms, asset management funds, speculators and investors – the 1% - need a hyperconnected, exploitative and unequal global system.

The post Billionaires & the pandemic: in happy alignment appeared first on Prime.

GDP, Brexit & the trade winds of change

Jeremy Smith — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 15:34:51 +0000

In 2020, GDP per head of population fell, year on year, by a massive 10.5%. For me, that’s the take-away statistic from last Friday’s GDP-related ‘data dump’ by ONS. The level of GCDP per head (in real, inflation-adjusted terms) was £29,124. This was almost identical to the level in 2009 (£29,098), at the peak of […]

The post GDP, Brexit & the trade winds of change appeared first on Prime.

Universal Basic Services – news from the project taskforce

Anna Coote — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 15:42:14 +0000

The UBS Task Force, hosted by PRIME and supported by Network for Social Change, aims to stimulate wider interest in Universal Basic Services (UBS) as a framework for policy and practice to ensure that everyone has access to life’s essentials. The Task Force has ten members (see below) and three strategic goals: to get UBS […]

The post Universal Basic Services – news from the project taskforce appeared first on Prime.

COP26: US gifts Wall St the Green New Deal

Ann Pettifor — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 20:11:02 +0000

Blackrock is able to amass their vast, global power because economists and politicians (including ‘the Left’ of the political spectrum) have conceded that power to them.

Last week John Kerry, Biden's climate envoy, placed the United States government in the role of humble supplicant – and effectively begged Wall St. to come to the rescue of the Biden Climate Plan.

The post COP26: US gifts Wall St the Green New Deal appeared first on Prime.

The case for an Ecological Interest Rate

Andrew Simms — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 08:51:24 +0000

Globally the economy has outgrown the carrying capacity of the biosphere, as a conservative, annual assessment of ecological overshoot makes clear. It is as if we are trying to shove size 10 economic feet into size 6 planetary shoes.

With more focus than ever on a green economic recovery the fact that there is no constructive connection between money, its cost and our ecological life-support system could, and really should, step into the limelight.

The post The case for an Ecological Interest Rate appeared first on Prime.

We can’t afford a capitalism that doesn’t work for the next generation

Anne Henow — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 19:42:46 +0000

As we look ahead, young people believe there is no regard for future generations who will suffer from the decisions taken today in the name of "economic growth". We cannot afford a capitalism that doesn’t work for the next generation.

The post We can’t afford a capitalism that doesn’t work for the next generation appeared first on Prime.

How does Labour rebuild trust on the economy? Listen to the public

Ann Pettifor — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 21:53:00 +0000

Over the last 30 to 40 years, politicians (widely perceived as ‘the elite’) have allowed a fundamental rebalancing to take place between capital and labour – to the massive advantage of the loosely defined 1%; and to the detriment of both low- and middle-income families. That much is clear to many voters, not least in ‘Red Wall’ seats.

The post How does Labour rebuild trust on the economy? Listen to the public appeared first on Prime.

Realizing the potential of Development Banks for sustainable, equitable recovery

Stephany Griffith-Jones — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 23:41:02 +0000

Development banks are already playing a major role in the global economy, with currently over US$11 trillion of total assets, and over $2 trillion of lending annually, representing about 10% of world investment. It is strongly desirable that - individually and jointly - they increase their level of activity further, in ways that even better serve the green and fair recovery that is so urgently needed.

The post Realizing the potential of Development Banks for sustainable, equitable recovery appeared first on Prime.

COP26: system change to sustain life on earth

Ann Pettifor — Sun, 10 Jan 2021 23:28:01 +0000

The UN’s conference takes place in November 2021and will be led by the British government. It is apparently committed to “uniting the world to tackle climate change”. It needs to achieve far more. To tackle climate change and protect the ecosystem that sustains life on earth, we need to do more than just bring down […]

The post COP26: system change to sustain life on earth appeared first on Prime.

Review: Trade Wars are Class Wars

Ann Pettifor — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 22:05:33 +0000

Matthew C. Klein and Michael Pettis contend that trade wars are caused by inequality within states, leading to tension between states. The argument runs thus: international conflicts are triggered when massive transfers of income are made to the rich, and to the companies they control, while the incomes of working people are either cut or remain stagnant. This leads to the under-consumption of domestic production and in turn to the build up of surpluses or gluts. What to do with these surpluses? In the open, largely unregulated global economy the only outlet is for a country to export, or dump, its surpluses abroad.

The post Review: Trade Wars are Class Wars appeared first on Prime.