Whilst the UK still lumbers under high COVID infection rates, and the economic recovery stalls, with GDP growth now at a trickle, the government wants to raise taxes. Even if you believed it was a fair tax, is next April – when the rise kicks in – the time to be taking spending money out of people’s pockets. But, as Phil Dobbie discusses with Prof Steve Keen, this is far from a fair tax. Those earning over £50,000 per year will pay disproportionately less than those on lower incomes. The money will help to fund the health care sector which is predominantly serviced by for-profit companies, some of whom are paying their senior staff very handsome salaries. We’re told we can expect more tax rises soon as the Tory government scrambles to reduce its debt burden. All of this ignores, of course, the ideas of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) that suggests governments can overspend if the excess money is used to create jobs. Even if you ignored MMT, doesn’t the issue of caring for the elderly, raise the obvious question about inheritance tax. Isn’t it time to tackle Britain’s problem of hereditary wealth?
Related Articles

Economics
Mark Blyth, Adam Tooze – A Crisis Like No Other
Professor Mark Blyth and Professor Adam Tooze explore how coronavirus is laying bare the hidden risks embedded within our financial systems and how central banks worldwide are scrambling to paper over those chasms of danger. […]

Climate Crisis
Steve Keen – Meanwhile, there’s still a climate crisis
Remember climate change? Believe it or to, even with COVID-19 dominating our consciousness, the environment is still a thing. A new report by NGFS – a voluntary group of central bankers concerned about the environment […]

Economics
Nick Shaxson – “The Finance Curse – 20 reasons to shrink your local financial centre”
October 25, 2019
Mathew D. Rose
Economics, Finance, Financial Institutions, Globalisation, Inequality, Monopolies, Tax
0
Countries whose economies are dominated by large financial centres suffer a “Finance Curse” that is rather similar in cause and effect to a “Resource Curse” that afflicts many countries whose economies are dominated by large […]
Be the first to comment