The consequences of living beyond our means

The consequences of living beyond our means

While each of the current challenges in our core services (NHS, Royal Mail, water, rail, etc) may have has its own explanations, causes and proposed fixes, together they ultimately add up to a systemic problem. Sticking plasters are not going to deliver the decent services a civilised society should expect to have. It’s not that we don’t know how to fix these problems, but rather we are not prepared to do what is necessary to put them right. As a society, we need to pay for these services and save to pay for the investment required and the ongoing maintenance. We prefer consumption now, selfishly expecting future generations to pay. What would living within our means really look like? What are the essential components of a sustainable economy? In this podcast, I outline the important ones: the polluter-pays principle; public money for public goods; investment in infrastructure through funding and finance; and proper saving for the future. The reality is proving inescapable, and we need to stop living beyond our means.

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Episoder(90)

Why can't we build infrastructure in this country?

Why can't we build infrastructure in this country?

Politicians have been seeking for decades to put right the infrastructure crisis in this country that is rooted not in a lack of ambition, but in deeper economic and political constraints. Building in...

15 Jun 15min

Crisis? What crisis?

Crisis? What crisis?

The International Energy Agency describes the current Iran conflict as the “biggest energy crisis in history”. While oil prices have risen sharply, they remain below the real highs of past shocks. How...

27 Mai 14min

Britain's negative-sum society

Britain's negative-sum society

The concept of a zero-sum game was fashionable in the 1970s. The idea was simple: competing interest groups, and especially unions, would fight for ever-bigger shares of the nation’s cake, and their g...

17 Mai 14min

No such thing as free electricity

No such thing as free electricity

There is no such thing as a free lunch, and there is no such thing as “free” electricity. What is true is that there are going to be days in summer when supply exceeds demands and hence the value of e...

24 Apr 11min

Sticky plaster energy policy is falling apart

Sticky plaster energy policy is falling apart

Another day and another bit of sticky plaster is applied. With the highest industrial energy prices in the developed world, the government is increasing the number of companies that will get a bit off...

20 Apr 15min

Gas prices, gas mistakes and gas policy

Gas prices, gas mistakes and gas policy

The news is very much about gas price shocks, but this is to misunderstand the fundamental difference between temporary shocks and long-term trends. Gas prices spike when major geopolitical events occ...

24 Mar 13min

Britain's industrial energy price crisis

Britain's industrial energy price crisis

Britain is facing a deep industrial energy price crisis, with many major industries collapsing or shrinking because UK electricity costs are among the highest in the world. Recent closures—from refine...

17 Mar 15min

The energy security gap

The energy security gap

The International Energy Agency, at its recent ministerial meeting (Feb 18th/19th), agreed on one top priority: energy security. Hybrid warfare, cyber-attacks and the ease with which modern energy inf...

24 Feb 15min

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