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by Will Hutton on (#2XFT)
The country is heading towards a social and economic crisis marked by desperately high levels of inequality. But it’s not too late to create a fairer society in which most people flourishWe live in a country whose banking system seven years ago was only saved by a £1tn intervention, and that remains crippled by the legacy of private debt and stunning losses. Months ago, the secession of Scotland, which threatened to break up the foundations of the state, was narrowly avoided; it remains an ongoing threat. Our share of world markets continues to shrink, and our trade deficit has climbed to unthinkable levels. Wages have fallen, in real terms, by the greatest degree in more than a century. Inequality of income and wealth have risen to desperately high levels that may soon metastasise into a serious economic and social cancer.Yet what is most extraordinary about the present moment is that all this now seems unexceptional; our political and economic order is so thoroughly broken that many no longer find that fact worthy of notice.Smart societies are impossible to create without fairness, justice and enfranchisementAt best, companies are organisations of genius, solving problems, innovating and delivering great goods and servicesThe task is to move the financial system away from its fixation with property lending and onto supporting innovation Continue reading...
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Economics | The Guardian
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| Copyright | Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2025 |
| Updated | 2025-04-27 18:45 |
by Warwick Smith on (#2XFV)
Surpluses effectively ‘privatise the deficit’ by making the public rack up debt. Is this worse than public debt? It depends if you’re a bankerJoe Hockey, the treasurer, now concedes he may not be able to deliver his promised budget surplus any time in the foreseeable future. This news is good for private savings because, when the government runs a surplus, the non-government sector must run a deficit.This is a simple reality of macro-economic accounting. There are only so many Australian dollars. If the government taxes more than it spends (a surplus), it is taking more dollars out of the private sector than it is putting in. Assuming exports equal imports those dollars can come from only one place – private domestic savings. Everyone’s surplus is somebody else’s deficit.
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by Helena Smith in Athens on (#2XFW)
Greek prime minister singles out German chancellor Angela Merkel and her finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble for criticism as he vows to get to workAfter three days of heated debate, Greece’s new government received a vote of confidence late on Tuesday as the country steeled itself for crucial negotiations with the creditors keeping it afloat.Alexis Tsipras, the firebrand catapulted to power on the back of fierce opposition to the austerity endured by the nation in recent years, easily won the motion with 162 votes. Some 137 MPs rejected the call. Nikolaos Michaloliakos, the leader of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn abstained citing illness. Continue reading...
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by Graeme Wearden on (#2XFX)
Rolling coverage of the Greek debt crisis, as markets welcome signs that Athens will compromise at Wednesday night’s eurogroup meeting, after tonight’s confidence vote
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