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You cannot have hollowed-out firms driven by the demands of financial neoliberalism and also have businesses capable of surviving downturns caused by reasonably anticipatable issues like inflation.

This from the bloke who only 6 months ago was calling 1% coupon bonds “high interest”. Very foreseeable inflation, oh my yes.

21 thoughts on “Umm, yes”

  1. Which “neo” is worst? Neoliberalism, neoconservatism, neo-classical economics, or neoNazis?
    Is Sir Kneel Starmer a representative of Neosocialism?

    What? You say there is no such thing as Neosocialism? How can that be?

    At least we get to enjoy neoMurphyism every day. Only a heartless wretch could describe it as the inconsistent, incoherent blabbering of an ignorant, old fool declining into dementia. I’ve got it! Call it neoBidenism.

  2. Who pays Ritchie’s bills? Does he have a rich benefactor? Is he a secrete stock market trading wizz? I cannot imagine his books are best sellers or he has a lucrative after dinner speaking business.

  3. In my experience, neoliberalism means “I’m an idiot and my field hasn’t noticed any political or economic developments since 1990.”
    I think ‘financial’ in this context is merely an intensifier, like ‘very’.

  4. @Sam Jones

    So he is a politically well connected grifter. Good work if you can get it. perhaps Mr Ritchie’s next book could be a how to guide on being a political grifter.

  5. Salamander/ Sam Jones

    He’s also constantly on at firms/organizations ‘withholding information on who their funding comes from’ – this was especially pronounced during the EU Referendum but occurs with other opponents. Amusingly some of his funding comes from a donor ‘who wants her privacy respected’. Of course that’s fine but for his opponents, no such understanding.

    The entire linked piece reveals such a fundamental ignorance of Markets and pension provision I would posit the authors as people in their twenties with zero understanding of the role of dividends in either personal investments or company funding. Looking at the website of the ‘Productivity insights network’ it appears to be almost entirely composed of academics – quite what insights they would have into productivity God only knows….

  6. Salamander

    It’s a little known anecdote that Murphy could have been a movie star in the early seventies – he was in competition for a role in a Western movie, which eventually was taken by Clint Eastwood.

    However, undeterred he embarked upon a ‘piece de resistance’ spanning five decades. The resultant film – ‘High Plains Grifter’ continues even to this day.

  7. Dennis, Bullshit Detector

    I’d love to get a precise definition of what a “hollowed-out firm driven by the demands of financial neoliberalism” actually is, and how it differs from a “business capable of surviving downturns caused by reasonably anticipatable issues”.

  8. Dennis

    I’ll attempt a translation:

    ‘Hollowed-out firm driven by the demands of financial neoliberalism’

    A company laid low by the requirements to take account of shareholders interest by paying dividends, as opposed to putting the money into either consultancy services looking into Fair Taxes and Tax Justice run by semi retired accountants turned academics in the Fens or providing some kind of permanent income for someone in the said position?

    Does that work for you?

  9. his funding comes from a donor ‘who wants her privacy respected’

    He’s ripping off his ex-wife?

  10. @Sam Jones
    That post is over 7 years old, and the old familiars are commenting; Pilgrim Slight Return and Ivan Horrocks. I am inclined to believe that one doesn’t keep a troll going for 7 years and they are in fact genuine.

    One name I haven’t seen since, was Sue Queef. I presume she is of this parish ?

  11. That Kenneth Miller Trust thing is odd. Plenty of other beneficiaries from the fund have thanked the Trust for their help
    Funny how Spud can’t include a little thank you somewhere.

  12. One of Spud’s most egregious funding scams benefited not him but his mate Colin Hines.

    Most charities won’t fund individuals, only ‘organisations’ which includes LLPs. Maybe Hines wanted some dosh but couldn’t apply himself so he and Spud resurrected the ‘Finance for the Future LLP’ which had been dormant for about 8 years. This LLP applied to the Polden Puckham Charitable Trust for and got grants of £15k in 2019-20 and £18k in 2020-21.

    What happened to those grants? In 2019-20 £14,700 was paid straight to Hines. In 2020-21 £17,800 was paid straight to Hines. In other words, Hines got c£32k cash he wouldn’t have got had he tried to apply to the Trust as an individual.

    What did Hines use that money for? We don’t know. If the LLP had incurred any expenses, they would have shown in the accounts but by paying Hines directly, we have no way of knowing whether Hines actually incurred any expenses or whether it was just money he pocketed.

    What has the Trust seen for its payment? No idea.

  13. Andrew

    Quaker roots, sustainability, peace & saving the planet, a previous emphasis on making smaller grants (from the latest accounts) – spud made!

    Now, if he (and his mates) are really on the ball, he’ll have noted Polden’s latest announcement, from here:

    https://www.polden-puckham.org.uk/

    The time is now

    This is a critical decade for the climate, and so, the planet and its inhabitants. We are teetering on the brink of a dual climate and biodiversity crises, in an increasingly insecure world. Because of this emergency, Polden Puckham believes that the time is now to support the change that is so urgently needed. We want to empower the people and projects that will make the crucial difference and achieve our shared vision. We have decided to devote all the resources of the foundation to this mission at this critical time for our future – the clock is ticking.
    What we plan to do

    We plan to ‘spend down’ our endowment over a seven year period, beginning in 2021 and winding up by 2028. This means we will be making fewer, larger grants. We will support work in our existing funding areas of Peace and Sustainable Security and Environmental Sustainability, with a particular focus on the intersection between the two.

    Etc

    Go big, spud, go big…..

  14. Murphy and Hines had a £20k grant and have got an extra £50k. So £35k each.
    https://www.t*xresearch.org.uk/Blog/2021/11/22/a-funding-update-4/

    Murphy’s annual income is:
    – £35k from Finance for the Future
    – a professor salary from Sheffield one day a week (starting salary is just over £60k so say £12k) https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hr/thedeal/professorial/structure
    – £17k from the Corporate Accountability Network
    https://www.t*xresearch.org.uk/Blog/about/
    – money from articles, books, etc. The above link says £360 per month from the National, but no doubt there is more

    So at least £70k of income, and he is still appealing for donations (another £10k per year per the link)!

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