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| Some fresh ideas to tackle social insecurity | |
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| Mark Carney can himself do far more to bring about his desire for the rebalancing of the economy to help the “left behind” (Globalisation victims must now get a share of the gains, warns Carney, 6 December). In August the Bank of England announced a further £60bn of its quantitative easing programme, taking the total of e-printed money to £435bn, the equivalent of nearly £7,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. | Mark Carney can himself do far more to bring about his desire for the rebalancing of the economy to help the “left behind” (Globalisation victims must now get a share of the gains, warns Carney, 6 December). In August the Bank of England announced a further £60bn of its quantitative easing programme, taking the total of e-printed money to £435bn, the equivalent of nearly £7,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. |
| Instead of using this staggering amount of money to prop up the banks and inflate stock markets, property and other assets, the new £60bn of QE should be used to buy bonds from a national investment bank and from local authorities to generate a “jobs in every constituency” programme. This would give all people, not just the left behind, a sense of hope about their economic future and should involve decentralised infrastructure projects centred on a decades-long, multi-skilled programme of energy refits of all the nation’s 30 million dwellings, a shift to localised renewable energy, and a rebuilding of local transport, food and flood defence systems. | Instead of using this staggering amount of money to prop up the banks and inflate stock markets, property and other assets, the new £60bn of QE should be used to buy bonds from a national investment bank and from local authorities to generate a “jobs in every constituency” programme. This would give all people, not just the left behind, a sense of hope about their economic future and should involve decentralised infrastructure projects centred on a decades-long, multi-skilled programme of energy refits of all the nation’s 30 million dwellings, a shift to localised renewable energy, and a rebuilding of local transport, food and flood defence systems. |
| Such an approach is technically feasible, and Mark Carney is on record as saying that, if the government requested it, then the next round of QE could be used to buy assets other than government debt. It’s time he and the government worked together to achieve this jobs-everywhere approach, and in doing so really tackle the economic insecurity that is pure oxygen for the extreme right.Colin HinesConvener, Green New Deal group | Such an approach is technically feasible, and Mark Carney is on record as saying that, if the government requested it, then the next round of QE could be used to buy assets other than government debt. It’s time he and the government worked together to achieve this jobs-everywhere approach, and in doing so really tackle the economic insecurity that is pure oxygen for the extreme right.Colin HinesConvener, Green New Deal group |
| • Mark Carney says that “rather than a new golden era, globalisation is associated with low wages, insecure employment, stateless corporations and striking inequalities”. Absolutely right, but Mr Carney is reminiscent of the driver of the biggest truck in a traffic jam complaining about the traffic. He is (part of) the problem and he offers no solutions. The idea that free-trade capitalism will somehow become more egalitarian is fanciful and is not supported by any historical evidence. | • Mark Carney says that “rather than a new golden era, globalisation is associated with low wages, insecure employment, stateless corporations and striking inequalities”. Absolutely right, but Mr Carney is reminiscent of the driver of the biggest truck in a traffic jam complaining about the traffic. He is (part of) the problem and he offers no solutions. The idea that free-trade capitalism will somehow become more egalitarian is fanciful and is not supported by any historical evidence. |
| An uncomfortable question for the remain camp is whether Mr Carney would even be saying such things, let alone doing anything about them, had Brexit and Trump not won. The left needs to realign, and quickly, to promote fair trade, not so-called free-trade, and the free movement of labour based upon talent and need, not upon the undercutting of wages.Mike MosleyNorwich | An uncomfortable question for the remain camp is whether Mr Carney would even be saying such things, let alone doing anything about them, had Brexit and Trump not won. The left needs to realign, and quickly, to promote fair trade, not so-called free-trade, and the free movement of labour based upon talent and need, not upon the undercutting of wages.Mike MosleyNorwich |
| • It is a depressing yet sadly unsurprising reality that half of people in poverty have a disability or live with someone who does (Poverty afflicting 7 million people in UK working families, study finds, 7 December). Despite our improving economy, the financial squeeze on disabled people continues to bite. Most people don’t realise that life is much more expensive if you are disabled. | • It is a depressing yet sadly unsurprising reality that half of people in poverty have a disability or live with someone who does (Poverty afflicting 7 million people in UK working families, study finds, 7 December). Despite our improving economy, the financial squeeze on disabled people continues to bite. Most people don’t realise that life is much more expensive if you are disabled. |
| From buying a wheelchair and higher energy bills to having to spend more on taxis and insurance, disabled people and their families face extra costs in all areas of life. Disabled people tell us they struggle to heat their homes and are falling in to debt. | From buying a wheelchair and higher energy bills to having to spend more on taxis and insurance, disabled people and their families face extra costs in all areas of life. Disabled people tell us they struggle to heat their homes and are falling in to debt. |
| Benefits such as disability living allowance and personal independence payment play an important role in helping disabled people to meet their extra costs. It is vital that government continues to protect the value of these payments. Businesses and government also need to take action to drive down the additional costs disabled people face for essential goods and services.James TaylorHead of policy and public affairs, Scope | Benefits such as disability living allowance and personal independence payment play an important role in helping disabled people to meet their extra costs. It is vital that government continues to protect the value of these payments. Businesses and government also need to take action to drive down the additional costs disabled people face for essential goods and services.James TaylorHead of policy and public affairs, Scope |
| • Two recent articles offer very different verdicts on the idea of a citizen’s or basic income: an unconditional income for every individual. Gaby Hinsliff (Opinion, 25 November) thinks that a basic income sends the wrong message about employment. It does not. It’s the current means-tested benefits system that does that, by imposing deduction rates of up to 96% on additional earned income as tax is paid, and benefits, including tax credits, are withdrawn. No financially feasible basic income would disincentivise employment, but, as a recent publication by the Institute for Social and Economic Research has shown, a basic income could take a lot of households off means-tested benefits, offering them far more incentive to seek new skills, seek additional employment or start a new career. (See An evaluation of a strictly revenue neutral Citizen’s Income scheme, ISER, June 2016.) | • Two recent articles offer very different verdicts on the idea of a citizen’s or basic income: an unconditional income for every individual. Gaby Hinsliff (Opinion, 25 November) thinks that a basic income sends the wrong message about employment. It does not. It’s the current means-tested benefits system that does that, by imposing deduction rates of up to 96% on additional earned income as tax is paid, and benefits, including tax credits, are withdrawn. No financially feasible basic income would disincentivise employment, but, as a recent publication by the Institute for Social and Economic Research has shown, a basic income could take a lot of households off means-tested benefits, offering them far more incentive to seek new skills, seek additional employment or start a new career. (See An evaluation of a strictly revenue neutral Citizen’s Income scheme, ISER, June 2016.) |
| Matthew d’Ancona (Opinion, 28 November) suggests that job-destroying automation will compel the state to pay a basic income. Automation can create employment as well as destroy it, so we don’t know what the employment market of the future will look like. What we do know is that employment is increasingly diverse and insecure. There is nothing wrong with an increasingly flexible employment market, provided households have a secure financial platform on which to build an appropriate mixture of employment, self-employment and new businesses. The current tax and benefits system can’t provide that. A basic income could.Dr Malcolm TorryDirector, Citizen’s Income Trust | Matthew d’Ancona (Opinion, 28 November) suggests that job-destroying automation will compel the state to pay a basic income. Automation can create employment as well as destroy it, so we don’t know what the employment market of the future will look like. What we do know is that employment is increasingly diverse and insecure. There is nothing wrong with an increasingly flexible employment market, provided households have a secure financial platform on which to build an appropriate mixture of employment, self-employment and new businesses. The current tax and benefits system can’t provide that. A basic income could.Dr Malcolm TorryDirector, Citizen’s Income Trust |
| • Theresa May looked fabulous in her leather trousers and, with the price of turkey these days, goose may be a sensible financial option for Christmas dinner (May wears the (£995) trousers, 7 December); but you are missing the point. The PM turned 60 in October. She, surely, is the poster girl for those who moved the pension goalposts so thousands of women of the same age now have to wait until they are 66 and 67 to receive their state pension. Mrs May will be fine, of course; not so the rest I fear – even if they look younger than their years and dress well. Who wants to employ them? Many have been pushed out of their jobs through redundancy, lack of training for the digital world, ageism or budget cuts, yet they are vastly overqualified for, say, retail sales, hospitality and admin, and cannot get a serious look-in with HR. I wonder how many of the unemployed are women over 60? There’s a more worthy story for you…Anita DeshmukhSutton Coldfield, West Midlands | • Theresa May looked fabulous in her leather trousers and, with the price of turkey these days, goose may be a sensible financial option for Christmas dinner (May wears the (£995) trousers, 7 December); but you are missing the point. The PM turned 60 in October. She, surely, is the poster girl for those who moved the pension goalposts so thousands of women of the same age now have to wait until they are 66 and 67 to receive their state pension. Mrs May will be fine, of course; not so the rest I fear – even if they look younger than their years and dress well. Who wants to employ them? Many have been pushed out of their jobs through redundancy, lack of training for the digital world, ageism or budget cuts, yet they are vastly overqualified for, say, retail sales, hospitality and admin, and cannot get a serious look-in with HR. I wonder how many of the unemployed are women over 60? There’s a more worthy story for you…Anita DeshmukhSutton Coldfield, West Midlands |
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