Suggestions to re-invigorate the UK economy

Opinion Piece by Jeremy Wraith

Summary

1 Introduction

  • The coronavirus pandemic has severely damaged the UK economy. However, this is also happening in every country in the world. This makes a fantastic opportunity for UK businesses to expand and export with the right encouragement from the government.

2 Brexit

  • The most important factor in the UK recovery is to cancel the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) NOW and eliminate ALL aspects of EU control over the UK forthwith.

3 Trade

  • The UK does NOT need a trade “deal” with the EU. This will not only inhibit future trade with the EU but more importantly, UK trade with the rest of the world (ROW).
  • The UK government must invest in UK businesses, large and small, which have an export potential so that export opportunities can be grasped. This will cost a lot of money and suggestions are made to reduce UK waste and spending. In addition, the UK must develop and produce more products at home so that it does not rely so heavily on overseas supply chains.

4 UK Business

  • 4.1 Cut UK corporation tax by 50%.
  • 4.2 Cut business rates by 50%.
  • 4.3 Stop all foreign (i.e. EU) fishing in UK waters and develop UK fishing industry.
  • 4.4 Produce Fisheries Protection and Border Force vessels in UK shipyards.
  • 4.5 Expedite Free Ports.
  • 4.6 Expand UK armaments products.
  • 4.7 Develop UK agriculture.
  • 4.8 Education. Expand technical schools and colleges.

5 Paying for UK investment

  • 5.1 Cancel the Withdrawal Agreement NOW.
  • 5.2 Reform the House of Lords (HoL)
  • 5.3 Scrap the BBC Licence fee.
  • 5.4 Scrap VAT.
  • 5.5 Cancel HS2 now.
  • 5.6 Scrap global warming legislation and associated costs.
  • 5.7 Actively develop fracking by UK companies
  • 5.8 Reduce foreign aid. Use foreign aid money to develop and produce UK products which can be sent to and used by poorer countries.
  • 5.9 Anyone, apart from a few exceptions, paid from any form of public funds to have a salary cap of £100,000.

6 Civil servants

  • Introduce a scheme to enable taxpayers and council taxpayers to dismiss civil servants and council employees.

7 Quangos

  • Cull vast numbers of quangos. Restore responsibility to Ministry and Ministers where it belongs.

8 Immigration

  • All illegal immigration to be stopped IMMEDEATELY.

9 Nationalisation

  • Railways and utilities to be nationalised. Royal Mail monopoly to deliver mail and parcels to be restored.

10 Multinationals

  • Multi nationals to be effectively taxed on their UK earnings.

Suggestions to re-invigorate the UK economy

1 INTRODUCTION

The coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdowns has created financial, social and political crises in the UK where many companies are being forced to close down or dismiss staff. Hence, as the UK economy, which has also been in virtual lockdown, struggles to revive there will be a severe shortage of jobs, goods and facilities which people have come to expect.

However, this is also happening in most countries in the world as the pandemic is a worldwide problem. For example, nearly 33 million Americans were getting jobless benefits as of June 20, this year, about five times the peak during the Great Recession. This is a golden opportunity for UK businesses to expand and export goods and services around the world. Something which has been severely hampered over the last 50 years or so due to our membership of the EU.

It is an inescapable fact that when the UK joined the EEC in 1973 we had an approximately zero balance of trade, (BoT) with the EEC, i.e. we exported as much to the then EEC as we imported from them. On joining the EEC the UK’s trade, was brought under the direct control of the EEC/EU, (as were many other aspects of the UK economy) and has been ever since. As a result, the UK since 1973, has built up a staggering BoT deficit with the EEC/EU, currently costing us over £2 trillion. In fact, the UK, has not made a surplus in the trade of goods with the EU since the early 1980’s. This, despite the fact that the UK started the industrial revolution!

Hence, NOW is the time to re-vitalise the UK economy and regain our manufacturing and exporting base while the rest of the world is struggling to recover from the adverse economic effects of the pandemic. This is only possible with BREXIT looming and the UK supposedly gaining its complete independence from the EU’s stifling and grasping clutches. Some suggestions are made below to help the UK re-gain its former place as a world leading exporting nation.

“The question must be asked as to WHY do we need a “Withdrawal Agreement” at all? We are leaving the EU and that is surely a simple fact of life. The attempts to make a trade deal as part of leaving simply clouds the issue”

2 BREXIT

The foremost and most obvious start is to accomplish a meaningful BREXIT is to break completely free of any and all EU influence over our sovereignty and economy. The single example given above illustrates quite comprehensively the effect of the EU’s involvement in our economy. They have one aim and that is to make the UK pay through the nose to their advantage. See also my note;

The UK must abolish the Withdrawal  Agreement and stop trying to agree a trade deal with the EU. At present the EU is insisting that we “leave” the EU on its terms only, i.e. with demands for the continuation of fishing rights and level playing fields etc. These demands are totally unacceptable for a sovereign, independent country that the UK aspires to be.

The question must be asked as to WHY do we need a “Withdrawal Agreement” at all? We are leaving the EU and that is surely a simple fact of life. The attempts to make a trade deal as part of leaving simply clouds the issue and is not necessary as discussed below.

3 TRADE

In 2019 the USA exported $336.6 billion worth of goods to the EU and imported $515.2 billion worth of goods from the EU. The USA and many of the EU’s other trading partners do not have a trade deal with the EU. All this trade is carried out on WTO rules.

In 2019 the UK exports to the EU amounted to £300 billion, but imports from the EU were £372 billion.

There is no reason to suppose that our trade with the EU will drop significantly after Brexit using WTO rules. Apart, that is from the EU’s insistence that we comply with their rules and regulations. They have even been threatening to deny the UK access to their single market and to deny the UK’s service sector from access as well. The EU cannot get over losing its ability to screw the UK unmercifully as it has done ever since we joined in 1973. See my note in the link above.

The UK says that it would like a “Canada Style” trade deal with the EU. However, we must beware of ANY deal with the EU as Canada has found, see last para of the note in the link above!

The facts are that:

THE UK DOES NOT NEED A TRADE “DEAL” WITH THE EU TO TRADE WITH THE EU!

THE UK DOES NOT WANT A TRADE “DEAL” WITH THE EU TO TRADE WITH THE EU!

This will avoid paying the EU £39 billion for the privilege of making a trade deal with the EU on their terms and which severely penalises the UK’s ability to export to them AND the rest of the world! In order to capitalise on the huge world wide opportunities post Brexit the UK must invest in and promote and expand its manufacturing and service industries now! This takes money and some suggestions are given below on how this could be done.

“Every UK Embassy and High Commission must have a Trade Commissioner whose sole role is to promote UK exports. Their performance can be measured and where this is not satisfactory they must be replaced”

4 UK BUSINESS

After Brexit the following actions should be done:

4.1 Cut Corporation Tax by 50%.

This should encourage large companies to stay in the UK, keep British workers in jobs and export from the UK. It will also help companies to improve their operating procedures and invest in new products.

4.2 Cut Business Rates by 50%

At the start of 2019 there were nearly 5.9 million small businesses, approximately 99.9% of the business population. They employed 16.6 million people, 60% of the work force, with a turnover of £2.2 trillion.

SME’s are vital to the UK economy and must be encouraged. Ways of doing this are discussed below.

NB Neither of the above would be possible under the EU’s demand for a “level playing field”.

4.3 UK Trade Commissioners

Every UK Embassy and High Commission must have a Trade Commissioner whose sole role is to promote UK exports. Their performance can be measured and where this is not satisfactory they must be replaced.

4.4 Fishing

It must be remembered that UK paid the EEC/EU to take over UK territorial waters as an EU asset by Ted Heath when we joined the EEC in 1973. Since then the UK fishing fleet has been decimated and the loss of UK fishing rights in UK territorial waters must have cost our economy a total of over £100 billion.

The UK must therefore prevent any foreign fishing in UK territorial waters to enable the UK fishing industry to recover to its pre-EU levels. Once the UK fishing industry has recovered that will be the time to negotiate contracts for foreign fishing fleets to operate in UK waters, subject to strictly enforced quotas. This may take a few years to accomplish.

If, in the meantime, the EU carries out its vindictive threat to prevent fish imports from the UK then the markets in the ROW must be exploited. UK Trade Commissioners (see above) should assist in this activity.

4.5 Fisheries Protection and Border Force vessels.

UK shipyards must be used to expand our fleet of fisheries protection and border force vessels. These must be armed and capable of carrying Royal Marines for the need to inspect foreign vessels and their catches. This is an urgent need of the highest priority and until more new vessels are produced other vessels must be acquired and converted as necessary.

4.6 Free ports

The introduction of free ports must be expedited as this would be helpful to UK businesses.

4.7 Develop UK Agriculture

The UK must invest more in UK agriculture to limit food imports. In future, more imports should come from third world countries to help them develop.

4.8 Education

Develop technical schools and colleges. Abolish Tony Blairs ridiculous aim to send 50% of school leavers to university.

Train more UK doctors and nurses and abolish tuition fees at universities for much needed UK science, engineering, medical and technology students. Ensure foreign students pay their tuition fees at the start of each academic year or be denied access.

“Apart from being an almighty scam the UK contributes a vastly unimportant 1% of the worlds output of CO2. The commitment by Theresa May to make the UK carbon free by 2050 is monumentally stupid and must be repealed at the first opportunity”

5 PAYING FOR UK INVESTMENT

Encouraging UK businesses, cutting their costs and taxes will cost the government, and the taxpayers a lot of money. The government is already heavily in debt due to its necessary help to companies due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, there are a number of ways that more money can be generated for UK investment in businesses and jobs as follows.

5.1 The Withdrawal Agreement (WA).

This must be cancelled forthwith. We must stop negotiating with the EU for a trade agreement. The EU has demonstrated time and time again that it is an avaricious, spiteful, and mean entity which loathes Britain. This, despite all the money,(£300+ billion) that the UK has contributed to EU budgets since we joined. Most EU countries have, by contrast, contributed NOTHING as they have been net beneficiaries for their total membership.

The UK must leave the EU and trade with them on WTO terms. This will limit their ability to limit the UK’s access to their markets. Something they continually threaten to do. This is something that they could and would do as part of the WA which was initially negotiated (i.e. allegedly “accepted”) by Theresa May. The Centre for Brexit Policy has apparently calculated that the WA would cost the UK £165 billion. We must prosecute Theresa May, Ollie Robbins and all their staff for alleged treason to show we mean business.

5.2 Reform the House of Lords (HoL)

The HoL is currently not fit for purpose and never has been (with a few notable exceptions) since the introduction of Life Peers. All 700+ of them must be abolished forthwith and the HoL reformed to consist of non-party members who should act as an independent checker on the House of Commons (HoC). This should save UK taxpayers about £20 million/annum.

See my note:

NB It is inconceivable that the Conservative, Labour or Lib Dem parties will accept reforming the HoL. After all, it is a haven for them to join after they retire and a means to reward their cronies, paymasters and to bribe prominent and influential people to agree to their policies and give their parties large funds. In the HoL they can get over £300/day of taxpayer’s money simply by signing in. Not to mention the taxpayer subsidised meals and vintage champagne!

5.3 BBC Licence Fee

This must be abolished by the end of this year saving all households from legally having to pay £157/annum to the BBC so they can watch ITV, Sky and other channels. The BBC has allegedly been promoting the EU since 1972 when Ted Heath and the Conservative government got them to allegedly support the UK’s entry into the EEC. Those people who support the BBC and its alleged anti-UK bilious propaganda can pay for it by subscription.

5.4 VAT

VAT is an EU imposed tax. Abolishing it will save SME’s a considerable headache in their accounting procedures. The taxpayers will save on the extra costs involved as these hit the lowest paid the hardest. Dismissing all the civil servants involved in its collection and administration will also benefit all taxpayers.

We already have an efficient tax collecting system in the HMRC. Loss of VAT income will be partly offset by savings in civil service pay and pensions for collecting it. Abolishing the VAT income can be compensated by increased taxation. This will shift the burden from the poorest people onto those more able to pay.

5.5 HS2

Must be cancelled forthwith. This is again an EU imposed liability which will not benefit the vast majority of UK taxpayers one iota. Scrap it NOW!

5.6 Global Warming

This is another burden on the UK taxpayer. The vast costs involved must be re-assessed and cancelled. Apart from being an almighty scam the UK contributes a vastly unimportant 1% of the worlds output of CO2. The commitment by Theresa May to make the UK carbon free by 2050 is monumentally stupid and must be repealed at the first opportunity.

There is no doubt that man made global warming is a monumental scam. Firstly, look at the relative size of the earth compared to the sun!

Can anyone really believe that man can have more influence on the suns effect on  earths atmospheric temperature than the sun has?

Secondly, it has recently been proved that the Mediterranean Sea was 3.6 ˚/F hotter during the Roman Empire than it is today. No doubt the climate change bigots will claim it was due to the Romans excessive use of coal fired power stations and drag races along the Appian Way in their Ferraris and Alfa Romeos!   

5.6.1 The use of more wind farms must be halted. They are inefficient and ways of abolishing subsidising their cost of generating electricity must be investigated and implemented. (Apparently, they are compensated during shut downs due to high winds. Can you imagine the mentality of government officials agreeing contracts for the supply of electricity with provision for compensation payment when they cannot produce the goods?)  

5.6.2 Coal powered generating stations are relatively cheap and reliable. The UK coal industry must be revived as much as possible as this is a UK asset.

5.6.3 The development of Small Modular Reactors (SMR’s) by Rolls Royce must be highly encouraged and implemented in the UK and for export.

5.6.4 The impossible law to make the UK net carbon free by 2050, introduced by Theresa May, must be repealed immediately.

5.6.5 The UK’s reliance on foreign firms to provide our electricity is a disgraceful indictment of our politicians. Years ago the UK was a world leader in nuclear power generation. Now the UK is dependent on foreign providers for our nuclear power stations. This is totally unacceptable. Some years ago Nicholas Sarkozy, then Premier of France, said that he did not want French consumers to pay more for their electricity bills. So, EDF allegedly added 10% to their UK customers instead!

5.7 Fracking

Fracking must be developed as fast as possible. This will provide cheap fuel for UK industry and it is a valuable UK asset.

5.8 Foreign Aid

The ridiculous legal commitment to give away 0.7% of our gross national income in foreign aid must be reformed immediately. For example, we continually see adverts on TV showing people having to spend hours each day collecting water. Part of the foreign aid budget should be invested in British industry and the products, such as water pipes, taps etc., given to poorer countries to improve their conditions. The farce of giving taxpayers money to richer countries like China and India is ludicrous. The Civil servants involved should be dismissed for incompetence!

In addition, the UK is one of only 6 countries that actually complies with the UN requirement. Repeal the law now and reduce our payments.

The remainder of the annual foreign aid budget should be invested in re-paying our enormous government debt. This can be drawn out in the event of natural disasters, such as typhoons, earthquakes etc. In these events ALL commonwealth countries should be helped as necessary. The interest saved on these debt payments will help reduce the governments annual deficit.

5.9 Salaries

The government should bring in a law making it illegal for anyone being paid from public funds being paid more than £100,000/year. Examples are:

5.9.1 50,137 NHS staff on £100,000 or more. Tax Payers Alliance (TPA)

5.9.2 The TaxPayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List identified at least 2,314 council employees in England and Wales with total remuneration deals of £100,000 a year or more in 2015-16.

The councils are making mugs of their council tax payers.

5.9.3 The BBC pays just 14 presenters a total of £11,715,000. Equivalent to over 7,500 licence fees.

The BBC is making mugs of their licence fee payers.

(NB The BBC has been found to be breaking its obligation to be impartial under the law and its Royal Charter on numerous occasions. This is allegedly especially true of its promotion of the EU since 1972. Hence, BBC personnel, including its governors, must all be prosecuted for allegedly fraudulently misusing license fee money, extorted from the British public, under the ultimate threat of imprisonment.)

 5.9.4 Judicial salaries are eye watering. Just 4 members in grade 1.1 are paid a total of nearly £1 million. This includes the president of the supreme court which proved to be politically involved in denying the government the right to prorogue parliament. The Supreme Court must be abolished.

6 Civil Servants

It is a catastrophic failure of our society that enables us to hire and fire politicians every so often but prevents us having any control whatsoever over civil servants and council employees.

Sir Mark Sedwill is a good example. Formerly a diplomat he was apparently a trusted adviser to Theresa May when she was Prime Minister. In his top position which included being Cabinet Secretary, he was paid a salary of £205,000 and incurred expenses of £175,000 in just one year. When he stepped down he was awarded a payout of £238,000. WHY? This is totally unacceptable.

UK taxpayers paid his salary, his payout and his pension. We, taxpayers are his employers, yet we have absolutely NO input into his salary, payout or pension. This is not right and there should be a system whereby civil servants can be sacked by public demand where there is evidence of incompetence or wrong doing. For example, failures by public servants should be investigated, by an independent tribunal, the facts published and voted on by taxpayers. They should have a say in the civil servants continued employment and their pension rights. In the case of civil servants 100,000 signatories would be required to dismiss a civil servant for incompetence.  This could be overturned by say 200,000 signatories. More are required as they will be committing others to carry on paying for the civil servant involved.

In the case of council employees the numbers would need to be reduced to say, 25,000 and 50,000 respectively.

The advantage of this sort of system is that civil servants and council employees would be continually reminded that they are our servants and NOT our masters!

7 Quangos

7.1 There must be a positive and effective wholesale cull of quangos. Why is it necessary to have a quango when we have a government department and a minister responsible for that function? Quangos are simply a device to divert blame for gross errors of management from ministers and ministries to external bodies!

7.2 The NHS is a good example. There are numerous health quangos tied up in Public Health England, (PHE). Its performance in dealing with this pandemic has been abysmal and yet the government is often blamed for the failures in providing PPE and ventilators etc.

7.3 PHE, which cost taxpayers £15 billion last year, once abolished its functions should be returned to where they belong. In the appropriate government ministries where taxpayers have the right to hire and fire politicians and where they should have the right to fire incompetent civil servants.

7.4 The use of agencies such as Serco, who have been contracted to spend £billions on housing immigrants stinks. Serco has a board of directors and shareholders who are all being financed by taxpayers. Their work should firstly be eliminated by completely stopping illegal immigration and limiting benefits to immigrants generally. This should all be carried out by civil servants whose bosses pay is limited to less than £100,000/annum.

7.5 Councils should be made to carry out public services by council employees. It is again ridiculous that private companies are contracted to do the work of rubbish collections and so on at a profit. If councils fail to carry out the services properly and at a viable cost then the residents should have the opportunity of sacking incompetent council officials. 

8 Immigration

ALL illegal immigration must be stopped, and illegal immigrants deported whenever possible. It is ludicrous to keep accepting boat loads of people from across the channel, keeping them here, paying for their welfare etc. This is especially true now that an immigration points system is being started on Jan 1st 2021. All boat people from then on are thereby bucking the system, but we should start stopping them now! It is insane that we apparently have about 48,000 illegal immigrants many of whom are housed in 4 star hotels, costing UK taxpayers £2 to £4 billion/year. (Reported by Nigel Farage)

Regrettably, the PM’s offer to accept 3 million BNO holders from Hong Kong is probably not tenable at this time. Where are they going to be housed, their children schooled and so on? Potential BNO immigrants should be subject to the points system as for everyone else.

9 Nationalisation

The government should nationalise certain industries, many of which have been taken over by EU companies as part of the EU’s “more competition” policy for taking over British industry.

The list of companies to be nationalised are as follows:

9.1.1 The railways. Network Rails debt from government borrowing is already well over £50 billion. Nationalising the whole rail network would facilitate nationwide improvements in rolling stock and improving freight. In future, all railway manufacturing and servicing must be carried out by British companies using British steel and resources.

9.1.2 Network rail has 45 managers with annual salaries ranging from £142,000 to £250,000 yet the company owes the UK taxpayers over £50 billion!

9.2 Water is a free natural resource and is getting into short supply due to population increases. It is intolerable that consumers are having to pay for large profits to water companies some of which are based overseas.

9.3 Electricity supply should be nationalised. We have a national grid and should have a national supplier. Electricity supply charges can then be reduced nationally. This will assist household consumers and businesses as well. This will help to reduce their costs and making their products cheaper and more attractive worldwide. 

9.4 Gas supply should be nationalised as for electrical supplies above.

9.5 Royal Mail’s monopoly to deliver mail must be returned. This was opened to foreign, (EU) competition, as part of the EU’s campaign to provide more competition and take over British industry.

10 Multinationals

It is obscene that multinationals such as Amazon, Google, Facebook etc., can apparently avoid paying tax in the UK by, for example, transferring funds to subsidiary companies abroad. The UK taxpayers are therefore losing £billions annually as a result.

All companies therefore must be made to pay a tax in the UK on money that is made on their business in the UK. This can be done by making it compulsory to pay a tax based on the higher of their total earnings or their profits. 

11 Capital Punishment

The government should hold a referendum on re-introducing Capital Punishment for murder especially where DNA evidence has made the identification of murder suspects indisputable It is ridiculous that we spend a fortune jailing terrorists and other criminals who murder police officers etc. and then release them onto the streets after a few years.

Main image © Acabashi; Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0; Source: Wikimedia Commons

Assistance For Self-Education – Top 10 Books On Economics For The Layman

Opinion Piece by Josh L. Ascough

It is no crime for anyone to be ignorant over the subject of Economics; it is a specialised social science after all. However, it always seems to be the loudest voices with ill-conceived “good intentions” who vocalise their opinions on the subject without ever having read a book on the subject (cough cough; The Guardian).

I have spent the last few months, since April 2020, working with the Croydon Constitutionalists in publishing articles dedicated to economic areas; delving into Central Banks, Cronyism, Economic Fallacies, The Gold Standard, Education, Unemployment, Cryptocurrency and hopefully more in the future. It should be noted however, by myself mostly, that the work of attempting to educate the layman cannot just come from myself via the knowledge I have gathered over the time I have been engaged in the subject of Economics, so this article will be a short and sweet one, giving a list of the top 10 books anyone and everyone can acquire to grasp an understanding of Economics. The books in this list have been chosen based on a number of factors; such as affordability and how friendly the books are to first time readers of the subject. You don’t need to acquire all of these books (unless you’re an Economics junkie like myself), as not all of them cover similar areas, however, I’m certain any number of these books will be valuable to the reader.

No: 10 – Free Market Environmentalism by Terry Anderson.

This book is in last place for the simple fact that it is the least affordable on the list, though if you are willing to pay £50+ for a book (that is pennies compared to what I’ve happily paid for other books), then this is a highly worthwhile read. Terry Lee Anderson is a former Executive Director of the Property and Environmental Research Centre and has a number of books relating to Environmentalism. Free Market Environmentalism however gives the reader an introductory, yet highly detailed take on the environmental and economic policies, as well as theory of free market environmentalism. From pollution, land use, to fossil fuels and green energy, Free Market Environmentalism is a worthwhile book for those concerned about environmental issues, and would like to hear the theory from a Environmental Researcher before delving into the purely economic argument.

No: 9 – Chaos Theory by Robert P. Murphy.

Less of a technical economics book, and more based on social and economic theory, Chaos Theory delves into the theoretical concept of Anarcho-Capitalism as a social and economic system, and how such a system would work in practise. Robert P. Murphy is an American Economist based in the tradition of the Austrian School of Economics, and is an Assistant Professor at the Free Market Institute, Texas Tech University. While I am a little biased, subscribing to the Austrian School and this being the book that fully converted me to Anarcho-Capitalism, I must say that the book doesn’t pull any punches; Murphy eloquently explains the theoretical basis of a society absent from the state, with detailed discussions on subjects such as market-based military defence, property protection, courts and prisons, as well as answering common questions, such as the always classic…who will build the roads?

No: 8 – The Economic Point Of View by Israel Kirzner.

The Economic Point of View, like Chaos Theory, focuses less on the technical side of Economics, and focuses more on the history of the epistemology of Economics. Israel Kirzner is a British-born American Economist who holds close theoretical ties to the Austrian School, and is a retired professor of Economics at New York University. The book looks at the history of economic thought in regards to what perspective economics and economists are meant to take; it delves into the different points of view economists have held since the classical economists of the time of David Hume and Adam Smith, to the Austrian understanding of Praxeology; the study and theory of human action based within Apriori knowledge, that all human action is purposeful to the subject. While this can be a difficult book to grasp if you have no experience reading philosophical writings, for those who have studied or are interested in philosophy, this is a great book for gaining an insight into the history and epistemology of Economics.

No: 7 – Liberalism by Ludwig Von Mises.

It took a lot to not put Mises in the number 1 spot or even close, however I need to think critically about what is approachable for those unfamiliar with the social science of Economics, and Mises has always been, and will always be one of the titans of Economics. Liberalism, as the title suggests, takes a look at the history of the Liberal tradition as a political, social, and economic philosophy. Mises delves into the connections and relationship between Capitalism and Liberalism, the problems with Interventionism, Socialism, and other command/planned economic systems, as well as the struggles Liberalism faced during the early 20th century from Socialism and Fascism. Ludwig Von Mises was many things during his life; he was an Austrian Economist, Historian, Logician and Sociologist; he was a champion of Liberalism, and a staunch intellectual fighter for freedom. If you are less interested in technical economics, but more interested in learning about the social science, social values and political arguments for the market economy, this will surely be a strong start.

No: 6 – Fascism vs Capitalism by Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.

If there is one thing more irritating than someone calling a Social Democracy “Socialism”, it’s someone calling Capitalism “Fascism”, and Rockwell Jr’s book Fascism vs Capitalism is the perfect book for ending that blending of terms for rhetorical arguments sake, once and for all. Llewellyn Rockwell Jr. is an American author, a Libertarian and a self-classified Anarcho-Capitalist. In addition he is also the founder of the Mises Institute; a non-profit institute dedicated to promoting the Austrian School of Economics. In Fascism vs Capitalism, Rockwell Jr. takes no particular stance for or against Capitalism or Fascism, but lays out the political, social, and economic differences between a Fascist system and a Capitalist system. Rockwell Jr. examines the strongly contrasting systems, while taking note of pro-fascist trends in recent decades, as well as the larger history of the two systems. If you’re not particularly interested in learning about economics, but want to understand what different systems means, this is the perfect book for clarification.

No: 5 – The Income Tax: The Root Of All Evil by Frank Chodorov.

No one likes taxes; Libertarians especially, and most if not all liberty-minded individuals at some point in their lives will say “Taxation is Theft”. However if there’s one tax most liberty-minded individuals oppose the most, it’s the Income Tax, and in his book (the title speaking for itself), Chodorov embarks on explaining to the reader the history of the Income Tax, as well as the general difference morally and economically between indirect taxes such as the Sales Tax; which require a consenting act before the tax can occur, and direct taxes such as the Income Tax; which treat property and the fruits of a man’s labour as loans by the government, and that under direct taxes no man owns his property or his labour. Frank Chodorov was a member of what was referred to as the Old Right, a group of Libertarian thinkers who were against Interventionism and opposed the New Deal brought about by FDR; he was a staunch advocate of free markets, individualism, and peace. The Income Tax: The Root Of All Evil gives the reader both economic and moral arguments against direct taxation as well as social implications of such forms of taxation.

No: 4 – That Which Is Seen And That Which Is Unseen by Frederic Bastiat.

If there was a competition for the most overlooked Economist in history, Frederic Bastiat would be in the top. In his essay, Bastiat explores the unseen outcomes of economic choices and actions; such as the unseen productivity of savings vs the seen productivity of consumption. Frederic Bastiat was a French economist, writer and a member of the French Liberal School, who developed the concept in economics known as Opportunity Cost, and introduced the parable of The Broken Window fallacy. While Bastiat’s essay contains little technical economics, it is a highly important piece of writing which assists the reader in understanding the unseen outcomes of economic choices and actions, as well as give the reader the understanding that all economic activity is subject to trade-offs.

No: 3 – The Origins Of Money by Carl Menger.

Getting into the top 3, Carl Menger’s book, The Origins Of Money, offers exactly what it states. The Origin Of Money gives a detailed economical and historical examinations as to how a form of money is created; dispelling the myth that money is a creation of government, Menger explains the qualities a good requires in order to qualify first as a medium of exchange, and then later as a money, while also delving into the different forms money has taken over the years; from animal skins, copper, tobacco leaves to gold. Carl Menger was an Austrian Economist born in 1840 and was the founder of the Austrian School of Economics, and would late go on to influence the work of Economists such as Ludwig Von Mises and Eugen Von Bohm-Bawerk.

No: 2 – Economics In One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt.

The choice for 2nd and 1st for this list was a difficult one, however, I believe Hazlitt’s book Economics In One Lesson should be placed here for the semantic reason that Hazlitt was not a trained economist; though this lends a strength to the book as there are few technical terms you would find in most economics books, and places more emphasis on explaining concepts and activities within the economic sphere. Economics In One Lesson does an amazing job of explaining fallacies, debunking faulty solutions to problems with assessments on productive solutions, and examining alongside explaining misunderstood concepts. While brining things back to basics with areas such as supply and demand, Hazlitt doesn’t treat the reader as stupid, and treats the reader with respect by explaining why it is understandable that some falsehoods appear more attractive than the truth, while not watering down why these more attractive ideas are incorrect. Henry Hazlitt, born in 1894, was an American Journalist who primarily wrote on the topics of business and economics for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and is a highly regarded figure among Libertarian and Conservative circles.

No: 1 – Principles Of Economics by Carl Menger.

While Economics In One Lesson is friendlier for first time readers of economics, Carl Menger’s book; Principles of Economics, presents the revolutionary theory of where value comes from, which hugely assists any reader whether they be well versed or new with unravelling many areas of economics. Principles Of Economics takes a look at where and how economic goods receive value, the qualities a good requires in order to qualify as an economic good, and the differentiations between consumption goods; referred to as goods of lower order, and capital goods; referred to as goods of higher order. It was in this piece that Carl Menger came up with the economic theory known as Marginal Utility and subjective value for economic goods, leading to what has been called “the Marginal Revolution”. Menger, with his theory of Marginal Utility and the subjectivity of value, rejects the Cost-of-Production Theory of Value as advocated by Adam Smith and David Richardo, as well as rejecting the Labour Theory of Value as promoted by Karl Marx.

While there are many additional books on Economics, I have found these to be the best in terms of affordability and friendliness to first time readers, who are looking to understand Economics from different angles. It is my hope that the reader will take up one or all of these books to begin a journey into understanding not just the science of Economics, but to comprehend just how vast the subject is.

Man himself is the beginning and the end of every economy.” ~ Carl Menger

Main Picture: https://pixabay.com/photos/knowledge-book-library-glasses-1052010/

Podcast Episode 42 – Peter Sonnex: Covid Curfews, Internal Market Bill, BBC Pay & the Un-locked Group

We are joined by Peter Sonnex from the Brexit Party as we discuss the latest COVID restrictions, the Internal Market Bill and whether it breaks “International Law” and the recent revelation of the wages of the BBC’s “stars”. We also consider the latest developments at Croydon Council and yet another leadership change for UKIP.

Finally, Peter talks to us about the Un-locked Group and how people can get involved.

Un-locked:

Brexit Watch:

Don’t Divide Us:

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‘People Are Starting to See What a Farce This Lockdown Has Been!’ – Sputnik Radio Interview

Could we be on course for a second lockdown? According to the Government’s leading scientist, Patrick Valance, the UK faces 50,000 new Covid cases a day by mid-October if the current infection rate is not halted. But just how can this be stopped? What measures are the government considering to slow the spread of infection? – Sputnik Radio spoke with Mike Swadling on the UK’s Coronavirus response.

“Because the entire focus seems to be on COVID not the plethora of things that people die of and need health treatment for normally, the government’s completely taken their eye off the ball for what’s in the national good!”

“the curve hasn’t changed when we introduce marks or indeed, when we opened up pubs and it’s just carried on and the government unfortunately feels poised to think that they can make one more change and do something I don’t know why they think that I see no evidence of that. It they feel to me like the the communist dictators of the old Eastern Bloc”

“People are starting to see what an absolute farce this has been. I fear they won’t, the government will try to impose more but I hope that people have the good sense to just get back to normal and ignore these people that want to control us”

Full Article: https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202009211080528924-people-are-starting-to-see-what-a-farce-this-lockdown-has-been/

ex-NCC joint statement response to Libertarian Party press release

We have been invited to share the following:

ex-NCC joint statement response to Libertarian Party press release

RESPONSE:

The 8 former NCC members have put together this statement to explain the situation:

In August 2020 we former members of the Libertarian Party UK (LPUK) NCC resigned from the NCC and the Party.

Subsequent to our resignations the LPUK issued a public statement (https://libertarianparty.co.uk/2020/08/27/onwards-and-upwards/) which presented grossly false insinuations about the circumstances of our departure. We therefore release this joint statement to address the misinformation presented in the LPUK’s statement, as well as the real reason for each of our eventual resignations from the LPUK NCC at that time.

Regarding the LPUK’s statement, we believe the assertion by the LPUK regarding a slide into populist nationalism is intended to paint a false picture of the circumstances of our resignations. In our view this assertion is not only a deflection from the truth but seeks to deliberately attack the reputations of each of us on false pretences.

In reality, our decisions to resign came in protest of the actions of certain individuals in the NCC at that time who in our opinion sought to target a fellow NCC member, Sean Finch, for removal in an unfair, unreasonable and biased manner that went utterly against core libertarian values which we believed the LPUK ought to uphold – namely, that an individual is considered innocent until proven guilty; that an allegation is not of itself evidence; that due process ought to be carried out in a fair, reasonable and impartial manner; that an investigation ought to be impartial; that decisions should be based on evidence; and that accusers cannot also be ‘judge, jury and executioner’ [the very definition of a ‘kangeroo court’].

Unfortunately such basic expectations were in our opinion rejected by some then on the NCC. Even the investigating officer engaged in behaviour that in our opinion sought to prejudice any forthcoming outcome for Sean Finch, including by publicly posting on Facebook in a manner that could prejudice any future action. A matter which itself is serious.

The former Chairman and others in the NCC sought to apply a fair, reasonable and impartial process in full compliance with the letter of the Party Constitution, and finding there was no evidence presented of conduct that should result in Sean Finch’s removal the then Chairman took no action to do so. The door was left open for any available evidence justifying such an outcome to be provided, but by the time of our resignations none was ever forthcoming.

Subsequently certain of the accusers, instead of providing evidence to support what in our opinion seemed to be their preferred outcome, supported a move to replace the Party Chairman with one of the accusers. At this the Party Chairman resigned believing he had lost the confidence of the NCC. The accusatory faction subsequently succeeded in having their preferred man elected as a temporary Chairman who continued to pursue Sean Finch, in our opinion unfairly, in spite of lack of evidence; in our opinion ignoring the strong likelihood of prejudice introduced into the process by the investigating officer; and by retaining a number of NCC accusers as ‘judge, jury and executioner’.

By the time of our resignations that temporary Chairman had failed, even after several prompts, to bring forward the matter of the Investigating Officer’s potentially prejudicial conduct on Facebook, for any kind of similar scrutiny before the NCC. In our opinion this demonstrated a clear bias and favouritism and suggested that he had no intention of challenging this conduct for which there is clear evidence, while being determined to pursue Sean Finch while lacking evidence.

We came to see the situation as follows: that an individual might join the LPUK, become an activist and candidate, commit resources, miles and a great many hours in campaigning in the Party’s name, and yet still be pursued with the intent to remove, unfairly, without justifying evidence, on the say so of a vocal few, a number of whom have demonstrated nowhere near such commitment. Not wishing to lend even tacit support to the LPUK while individuals pursuing what in our opinion was an unfair, unreasonable and biased approach sat in power over others, and being unwilling to lend our good names to what in our opinion was a corrupt vendetta by some in the NCC against Sean Finch without evidence to justify it, we each resigned as we each found the situation irreconcilable.

Based on this it is our opinion that any effort invested in the LPUK is effort that could be ultimately wasted. We therefore hold the opinion that the cause of libertarianism is best served elsewhere.

We hope that those who have been questioning the reasons for our resignations will now be more informed of our reasons. We note that were it not for the statement released by the LPUK we would not be having to set the record straight with this response of our own.

Having each made our own choices to resign based on the reasons given we harbour no ill will towards the membership of the LPUK and wish success to all individuals seeking to promote the cause of liberty. We do not believe any one individual or organisation has a monopoly on liberty and will be promoting libertarianism via other, we hope more fruitful, and in our opinion more libertarian means.


ENDS.



Episode 41 – All Change @ Croydon Council, Board of Trade, Protests, US Election & BBC’s Death Wish

We discuss recent developments at Croydon Council, Brexit and some interesting appointments to the Board of Trade. We then consider various recent protests, the latest on the US Presidential Election and whether or not the BBC has a Death Wish.

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Bans on Travel Not Right Approach and the SNP is ‘Playing Politics With People’s Lives’ – Sputnik Radio Interview

England has come under pressure to reconsider quarantine rules for Greece after Scotland and Wales introduced new restrictions for the country in a bid to slow a rise in coronavirus cases. Looking at this story in more detail, Sputnik spoke to the Analyst Michael Swadling from the Croydon Constitutionalists, in this interview.

The great risk to this country is that we are not acting in a normal manner and anything, be it holidays, schooling, work, travel, shopping… that gets us away from normal and continues to spread that fear and dread

“God knows, we need a break more than we would normally. Blanket bans destroy our travel industry, hurt those countries, hurt people who have saved hard and put away for a holiday and finally get that break their family needs. For what? For what risk? What’s the actual impact we’re seeing here?”

“If we had a government that had any courage, a government that was in any way ready to lead rather than just follow, Boris would do that but sadly, he’s really made a problem for himself because he’s never shown any signs of doing that certainly since this crisis began”

“we’ve now created an industry in government of dealing with the pandemic. The pandemic isn’t there in the same way anymore and they just need to find new things to do. Unfortunately, holidaymakers are the people being punished by that incessant need from government to find something else to do”

Full article – https://sputniknews.com/analysis/202009021080351196-bans-on-travel-not-right-approach-and-the-snp-is-playing-politics-with-peoples-lives-says-pundit/

Audio: