Red Scare

“We used to think that you could spend your way out of a recession and increase employment by cutting taxes and boosting government spending. I tell you in all candour that that option no longer exists, and in so far as it ever did exist, it only worked on each occasion since the war by injecting a bigger dose of inflation into the economy, followed by a higher level of unemployment as the next step.”

– Jim Callaghan, speech to Labour conference, 1976.

“The UK economy needs reform. For too long it has prioritised consumption over investment, short-term financial returns over long-term innovation, rising asset values over rising wages, and deficit reduction over the quality of public services.

“The results are now plain. We have had 10 years of near zero productivity growth. Corporate investment has stagnated. Average earnings are still lower than in 2008. A gulf has arisen between London and the South East and the rest of the country. And public services are under intolerable strain — which the economic costs of a hard Brexit would only make worse. We now moreover face the urgent imperative of acting on the climate and environmental crisis.

“Given private sector reluctance, what the UK economy needs is a serious injection of public investment, which can in turn leverage private finance attracted by the expectation of higher demand. Such investment needs to be directed into the large-scale and rapid decarbonisation of energy, transport, housing, industry and farming; the support of innovation- and export-oriented businesses; and public services. It is clear that this will require an active and green industrial strategy, aimed at improving productivity and spreading investment across the country.

“Experience elsewhere (not least in Germany) suggests a National Investment Bank would greatly help. With long-term real interest rates now negative, it makes basic economic sense for the government to borrow for this, spreading the cost over the generations who will benefit from the assets. As the IMF has acknowledged, when interest payments are low and investment raises economic growth, public debt is sustainable.

“At the same time, we need a serious attempt to raise wages and productivity. A higher minimum wage can help do this, alongside tighter regulation of the worst practices in the gig economy. Bringing workers on to company boards and giving them a stake in their companies, as most European countries do in some form, will also help. The UK’s outlier rate of corporation tax can clearly be raised, not least for the highly profitable digital companies.

“As economists, and people who work in various fields of economic policy, we have looked closely at the economic prospectuses of the political parties. It seems clear to us that the Labour party has not only understood the deep problems we face, but has devised serious proposals for dealing with them. We believe it deserves to form the next government.”

– (Emphasis ours.) Letter to the Financial Times from the following 163 academics, 26 November 2019:

David G. Blanchflower
Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Economics, Dartmouth College; Professor of Economics. University of Stirling; former member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee

Victoria Chick
Emeritus Professor of Economics, University College London

Lord Meghnad Desai
Emeritus Professor of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science

Stephany Griffith-Jones
Emeritus Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex; Financial Markets Director, Initiative for Policy Dialogue, Columbia University

Simon Wren-Lewis
Emeritus Professor of Economics and Fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford

Jonathan Aldred
Director of Studies in Economics, Emmanuel College, and Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge

Tanweer Ali
Lecturer, Empire State College, State University of New York

Patrick Allen
Chair, Progressive Economy Forum

Carolina Alves
Joan Robinson Research Fellow in Heterodox Economics, Faculty of Economics and Girton College, University of Cambridge

Antonio Andreoni
Senior Lecturer in Economics, SOAS, University of London

Shawky Arif
Senior Lecturer in International Development, University of Northampton

Joseph Baines
Lecturer of International Political Economy, King’s College London

Kate Bayliss
Senior Research Fellow, SOAS, University of London

Hannah Bargawi
Senior Lecturer and co-Head of Department of Economics, SOAS University of London

Adotey Bing-Pappoe
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Greenwich University

Peter Bloom
Professor of Management, Essex Business School, University of Essex

Bruno Bonizzi
Senior Lecturer, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire Business School

Dr Alberto Botta
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Greenwich

Andrew Brown
Professor of Economics and Political Economy, University of Leeds

Mark Bryan
Reader in Economics, University of Sheffield

Mike Bull
Reader in Social Enterprise, Manchester Metropolitan University

Jonathan Busch
Research Fellow in Ecological Economics, University of Leeds

Terry Byres
Professor Emeritus of Political Economy, SOAS, University of London

Robert Calvert Jump

Research Fellow, University of Greenwich

Ha-Joon Chang
Reader, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge

John Christensen
Director, Tax Justice Network

David Cobham
Professor of Economics, Heriot-Watt University

Christine Cooper
Professor of Accounting, University of Edinburgh

Christopher Cramer
Professor of the Political Economy of Development, SOAS, University of London

Bruce Cronin

Professor of Economic Sociology, University of Greenwich

Andrew Cumbers
Professor of Regional Political Economy, University of Glasgow

Yannis Dafermos

Lecturer in Economics, SOAS University of London

Hulya Dagdeviren
Professor of Economic Development, University of Hertfordshire

William Davies
Professor in Political Economy, Goldsmiths, University of London

Jerome De Henau
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Open University

Jonathan Di John
Senior Lecturer, Political Economy of Development, SOAS, University of London

Danny Dorling
Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of Oxford

Gary Dymski
Professor of Applied Economics, University of Leeds

Ciaran Driver
Professor of Economics, School of Finance and Management, SOAS, University of London

Trevor Evans
Emeritus Professor of Economics, Berlin School of Economics and Law

Andrew Fanning
Marie Curie Research Fellow, Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds

Ben Fine
Emeritus Professor, School of Oriental and African Studies, London

Felix FitzRoy
Emeritus Professor of Economics, School of Economics and Finance, University of St. Andrews; Research Fellow, IZA, Bonn

Guglielmo Forges Davanzati

Professor of Political Economy, University of Salento and Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge

Carlos Fortin
Emeritus Fellow and Research Associate, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

Vasileios Fouskas
Professor of International Politics and Economics, University of East London

Daniela Gabor
Professor of Economics and Macro-Finance, University of the West of England Bristol

Giorgos Galanis
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Goldsmiths, University of London

Sara Gorgoni
Associate Professor in Economics, University of Greenwich

Ian Gough
Visiting Professor in the Centre for Social Exclusion, London School of Economics

Giorgos Gouzoulis
Research Fellow, University College London

John Grahl
Emeritus Professor of Economics, Middlesex University

Martin Greeley
Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

Alexander Guschanski
Lecturer in Economics, University of Greenwich

Hassan Hakimian
Emeritus Professor of Economics, SOAS, London

Barbara Harriss-White
Emeritus Professor, Wolfson College, Oxford

Jostein Hauge
Research Associate at the Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge

Judith Heyer
Emeritus Fellow, Somerville College, Oxford

Ariane Hillig
Lecturer in Economics, Goldsmiths, University of London

Susan Himmelweit
Emeritus Professor of Economics, Open University

Peter Holmes
Reader in Economics, University of Sussex

Peter Howells
Emeritus Professor of Monetary Economics, UWE Bristol

Leslie Huckfield
Lecturer, Glasgow School for Business and Society, Glasgow Caledonian University

Tim Jackson
Professor of Sustainable Development, University of Surrey

Michael Jacobs
Professorial Fellow, Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute, University of Sheffield

Sir Richard Jolly
Emeritus Professor, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex

Emily Jones
Associate Professor in Public Policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford

Annina Kaltenbrunner
Associate Professor in the Economics of Globalisation and the International Economy, University of Leeds

Raphael Kaplinsky
Emeritus Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, and Honorary Professor, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex

Ewa Karwowski
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Hertfordshire

Steve Keen
Honorary Professor, University College London

Effie Kesidou
Associate Professor in Applied Economics, University of Leeds

Mushtaq Khan
Professor of Economics, SOAS, University of London

Andy Kilmister
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Oxford Brookes University

Suzanne J Konzelmann
Reader in Management, Birkbeck, University of London

Sunil Mitra Kumar
Lecturer in Economics, King’s College London

Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven
Lecturer in International Development, University of York

Neil Lancastle
Senior Lecturer, Accounting and Finance, De Montfort University

Stewart Lansley
Visiting Fellow, University of Bristol

Costas Lapavitsas
Professor of Economics, SOAS, University of London

Clive Lawson
Director of Studies in Economics, Girton College Cambridge

Jane Lethbridge
Principal Lecturer, Business Faculty, University of Greenwich

Merle Lipton
Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London

Michael Lipton
Emeritus Professor of Economics, Sussex University

Emanuele Lobina
Principal Lecturer, Public Services International Research Unit, University of Greenwich

Lorena Lombardozzi
Lecturer in Economics, The Open University

Pedro Mendes Loureiro
Lecturer in Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge

Terry McKinley
Professor of Development Studies, SOAS, University of London

Laurie Macfarlane
Head of Patient Finance, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose

Maureen Mackintosh
Professor of Economics, The Open University

Julia Martin-Ortegqa
Professor of Ecological Economics, University of Leeds, UK

Paul Mason
Visiting Professor of Economics, Wolverhampton University

Imko Meyenburg
Senior Lecturer in Economics and International Business, Anglia Ruskin University

Jo Michell
Associate Professor of Economics, University of the West of England Bristol

Jonathan Michie
Professor of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange, University of Oxford

Johnna Montgomerie
Reader in International Political Economy and Head of Department, European and International Studies, King’s College London

Simon Mohun
Emeritus Professor of Political Economy, Queen Mary University of London

Richard Murphy
Professor of Practice in International Political Economy, City, University of London

Bona Muzaka
Reader in International Political Economy, King’s College London

Natalya Naqvi
Assistant Professor in International Political Economy, London School of Economics

Susan Newman
Associate Professor in Economics, University of the West of England

Maria Nikolaidi
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Greenwich

Dan O’Neill
Associate Professor in Ecological Economics, University of Leeds

Ozlem Onaran
Professor of Economics, University of Greenwich

Christine Oughton
Professor of Management Economics, SOAS, University of London

Carlos Oya
Professor of Political Economy of Development, SOAS, University of London

Cem Oyvat
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Greenwich

José Gabriel Palma
Emeritus Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, Cambridge University

John Palmer
Former Political Director, European Policy Centre, Brussels

Alberto Paloni
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Glasgow

Marco Veronese Passarella
Lecturer of Economics, University of Leeds

Jonathan Perraton
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Sheffield

Avinash Persaud
Emeritus Professor, Gresham College; former senior banker, J.P.Morgan and State Street

Ann Pettifor
Director, Policy Research in Macroeconomics (PRIME)

Valentino Piana
Director of the Economics Web Institute

Kate Pickett
Professor of Epidemiology, Deputy Director of the Centre for Future Health, University of York

Jeff Powell
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Greenwich

Kate Raworth
Senior Associate, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

Hugo Radice
Life Fellow, School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds

Howard Reed
Director, Landman Economics

Matteo Rizzo
Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, SOAS, University of London

Pallavi Roy
Lecturer in International Economics, SOAS University of London

Shampa Roy-Mukherjee
Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of East London

Josh Ryan-Collins
Head of Research, Institute for Innovation and Public Policy, University College London

Magnus Ryner
Professor of International Political Economy, King’s College London

Alfredo Saad Filho
Professor of Political Economy and International Development, King’s College London

Diego Sanchez-Ancochea
Professor of the Political Economy of Development, University of Oxford

Malcolm Sawyer
Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of Leeds

Gregor Semieniuk
Lecturer in Economics, SOAS, University of London; Research Assistant Professor in Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Marianne Sensier
Research Fellow in Economics, University of Manchester

Mimoza Shabani
Senior Lecturer in Financial Economics, University of East London

Alan Shipman
Lecturer in Economics, Open University

Kalim Siddiqui
Senior Lecturer in International Political Economy, University of Huddersfield

Prem Sikka
Professor of Accounting and Finance, University of Sheffield

Andrew Simms
Co-director, New Weather Institute; Research Associate, Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex

Pritam Singh
Visiting Scholar, Wolfson College, University of Oxford

Alan Southern
University of Liverpool Management School

Guy Standing
Professorial Research Associate, SOAS, University of London

Julia Steinberger
Professor of Social Ecology and Ecological Economics, University of Leeds

Sara Stevano
Postdoctoral Research Associate, European and International Studies, King’s College London

Frances Stewart
Emeritus Professor of Development Economics, University of Oxford

Engelbert Stockhammer

Professor of International Political Economy, King’s College London

Beth Stratford
Fellow at the New Economics Foundation

Hanna Szymborska
Lecturer in Economics, Open University

Jeff Tan
Associate Professor in Political Economy, Aga Khan University, UK

Paul Temple
Reader in Economics, University of Surrey

Geoff Tily
Senior Economist, Trades Union Congress

Jan Toporowski
Professor of Economics and Finance, SOAS University of London

Daniele Tori
Lecturer in Finance, Open University Business School

Mehmet Ugur
Professor of Economics and Institutions, University of Greenwich

Elvira Uyarra
Reader in Innovation Management and Policy, University of Manchester

Elisa Van Waeyenberge
Senior Lecturer and Co-Head of Department of Economics, SOAS University of London

Roberto Veneziani
Professor of Economics, Queen Mary University of London

Ragupathy Venkatachalam
Lecturer in Economics, Goldsmiths, University of London

Bhaskar Vira
Professor of Political Economy and Head of Department of Geography, University of Cambridge

Robert H. Wade
Professor of Global Political Economy, London School of Economics and Political Science

Geoff Whittam
Reader Glasgow School for Business and Society, Glasgow Caledonian University

John Weeks
Professor Emeritus of Development Economics, SOAS University of London

Rafael Wildauer
Lecturer in Economics, University of Greenwich

Richard Wilkinson
Professor Emeritus of Social Epidemiology, University of Nottingham.

Christina Wolf
Senior Lecturer in Economics, Kingston University

Adrian Wood
Emeritus Professor of International Development, University of Oxford

Yuliya Yurchenko
Senior Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Greenwich, UK.

“I notice that of the 163 academics who call for Labour to form the next government (Letters, November 26) not one is from a history faculty. Surely the lesson of the 1970s is that highly excessive borrowing, which must ultimately be repaid, leads to higher taxation and lower profits, dividends, pensions and wages. The latter causes civil unrest resulting in strikes and further economic disruption.

“There is undoubtedly a need for greater investment and it was surprising that the Conservative manifesto did not include more of it, but any increase has to be measured with a target on increasing productivity and living standards. Labour’s proposals are so far off the scale that it is doubtful the UK economy could absorb such excess. Professor David Blanchflower et al do not address this point. Indeed their argument is as ill thought out as it is shallow.

“Moreover, in extolling the virtues of Germany one wonders if they are even aware of the heated debate concerning the lack of German spend on infrastructure?

“The fact also that Jeremy Corbyn so readily jumped on the Women Against State Pension Inequality issue (for which admittedly one must have sympathy) after issuing its own manifesto by offering another £58bn on top of an annual spend of £83bn is surely testament enough as to why the Labour party is totally unfit for office.
“

The fact is that a measured approach to greater targeted spending and the Waspi pension dilemma (such as a means test) would be a far better way than the irresponsible election bribe offered by Labour. Hopefully the UK electorate will have the sense to see through such hubris.”

– John Turner of Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland in a letter to the Financial Times, 27 November 2019.

What do you call 163 Marxist economists at the bottom of the sea ?

Not a bad start.