Friday 13 September 2019

Exchange This

Yellow Peril stuff about the takeover bid that the London Stock Exchange Group was always going to rebuff from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. But nobody ought to want such a thing to fall into any foreign hands.

So nationalise it. The HKEC bid was £32 billion, so call it £35 billion. That is about a third of the annual budget of NHS England. But as a one-off payment, by the only entity, the State, that can simply issue itself with as much as it chooses of its own free floating, fiat currency.

All wars are fought like this. The banks were bailed out like this. Theresa May thought that she had bought the parliamentary votes of the DUP like this. It is normal, which is why there is no excuse for not applying it across the range of policy areas.

The fiscal and monetary means of controlling any inflationary effect are readily available, even if the latter would involve taking back democratic political control of monetary policy, something that no Conservative Government ever surrendered in the first place.

Once we owned the Stock Exchange, then, after any investment in public services, the dividends would be distributed equally to everyone.

Indeed, the State can and must buy a stake in every FTSE 500 company, large enough to secure Board-level representation, for the exercise of which the Chancellor of the Exchequer would be accountable to the House of Commons. After any investment in public services, the dividends would be distributed equally to everyone, through the same infrastructure that paid the Universal Basic Income.

Another hung Parliament is coming, and we need our people to hold the balance of power in it. A new party is now in the process of registration. After nearly 30 years of suggestion, speculation, and even a sort of preparation, I will stand for Parliament here at North West Durham. The crowdfunding page is here, and buy the book here. Please email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com. Very many thanks.

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