We'd like
to begin this newsletter with a Happy New Year to you all, and a huge thank you
for all your support in 2013!
2014 is
here, and this year we will be bombarded with the "celebration" of
the First World War. I say "celebration", for that is what it will be
- a celebration of death.
Our
televisions will be bombarded with documentaries, events and news reports
focussing our attention on the death and destruction, and distracting us from
the political and financial motivations which led to the war - motivations
which seem to be all around us once again today. All this is intended to keep
our minds in a dark, pessimistic place, while the new global order continues to
establish itself.
Yet this
is not the only centenary this year.
It is
also the centenary of the BRADBURY POUND, which, while it could only have come
about because of the First World War, represents an historical precedent which
offers an opportunity for an optimistic future.
Let's
remember how the Bradbury came about: in 1914 the banks, feaful of a bank run
as a result of nervousness over the coming war, demanded action from the
government of the day to prevent their impending insolvency. The government
issued interest free Treasury Notes in order to keep the banks afloat, signed
by Secretary to the Treasury Bradbury, hence the name.
We should
be under no illusions that the Bradbury Pound was a bank bailout. But what it
did was set a precedent for government issued money, free of the interest
payments attached to money raised from private bankers. So while we are not
calling for another bailout of this insolvent banking and financial system, we
are calling for the use of that precendent as the basis for rebuilding a nation
which has been so destroyed the the policies of successive governments over the
last 40 years, that it might as well have faught a World War.
This is
exactly the opportunity for optimism that we need. Instead of following a path
of "austerity" which leads to ever lower living standards, education
standards, health care standards and infrastructure standards, we could use the
Bradbury to fund an economic rebuilding plan not seen since the end of the
Second World War.
The
Treasury's main excuse for not backing the Bradbury policy is that it is, they
say, tantamount to "printing money" in the hyperinflationary style of
the Weimar Republic. It isn't, of course. The Weimar hyperinflationary policy
is best expressed by Quantitative Easing, which is money printing in exactly
the Weimar style.
What is the
difference?
Well, one
(QE) represents a backward looking, "we must pay the bankers and
speculate, speculate, speculate" approach. The past debts must be paid,
even thought they were mostly created through fraud and corruption, no matter
how many people have to die in order to pay them. So we shut down hospitals, we
reduce the quality of our food, we turn our education system into a chaotic
mess, because we "can't afford" to pay.
The
other, the Bradbury, is forward looking. The debt in this case is to future
generations. We spend newly created money now on things which provide our
children and grandchildren the futures they deserve. We spend the money to
provide high quality economic infrastructure, health care, education, training.
This is the debt we owe. Not to disgustingly corrupt bankers who understood
absolutely the implications of what they were doing, but to our children and
their children who had no say in whether or not they were born into this
mess.
So the
Bradbury must not be used to bail out the financial system. It must only be
used to build a real productive economic infrastructure which can support a
real productive workforce. There really are no downsides, so long as the money
is spent on the correct things.
That is
why we also need a full "Glass Steagall" style separation of retail
and speculative investment banking. While the mess of the financial system is
still hanging around our necks, not even the Bradbury policy can help us. We
must deal with the present banking system, and in the process deal with the
debt which is notionally outstanding. Glass Steagall would see most of that
written off, much to the chagrin of the bankers, which is why they are lobbying
so hard against it right around the world.
In 2013
the Bring Back The Bradbury Campaign succeeded in getting an Early Day Motion
into the House of Commons calling for its reinstatement. Let's see if we
can "encourage" enough support among MPs (who badly need to be
reminded who they work for) to see the policy debated in full before the middle
of the year, and implemented by the centenary in August.
Again,
thank you all so much for your support of the UK Column in 2013. We hope you
can continue to support us in 2014, and especially can get behind the campaign
for the reinstatement of the Bradbury Pound.
UK Column Video Programmes
We are
now entering our third year of video production, and our second of live video
production. We have lots planned for this year - several documentaries, a
return of some familiar content (to be announced soon), and some new evening
programmes on the way.
In the
meantime, our daily news programme UK Column Live at 1PM each weekday as usual,
beginning tomorrow (Monday 6th).
At 9PM on
Monday 6th, Ian Crane returns with another live episode of Fracking Nightmare.
At 9PM on
Tuesday 7th, Clive de Carle returns with the Health Revolution.
And at
6PM on Friday 10th, Alex:G returns with Doomwatch.
These
programmes go out live, so if you are a UK Column member, you can log into the
website to join us in the chat room for discussion and questions to the
presenters and guests. We hope to see you there.
Details
of how to watch the programmes is on the front page of the website at http://www.ukcolumn.org.
Look for "Live Video Schedule" in the right hand column.
