Funding the Future

What happens when markets stop working?

That is the question at the core of this video, and it matters because we are entering a period in which shortages of essential goods may become impossible to ignore. Oil supplies are already being disrupted. Gas, fertilisers, industrial chemicals and food supply chains are under pressure. And when essentials become scarce, markets ration by price, not by need.

That means those with the least money lose first.

In this video, I argue that neoliberal economics has no answer to a world of absolute shortages. Markets work in conditions of stability, adequate supply and clear price signals. But when fear, disruption and scarcity dominate, those conditions disappear.

So what happens then?

I explain why governments may be forced to intervene through rationing, price controls and deliberate allocation of resources, just as they did during and after the Second World War. I also explore how systems for rationing fuel, energy, and food could actually work in a modern economy.

This is not an argument against markets in normal times. It is an argument about what happens when markets fail.

And I think that moment may be much closer than most politicians are willing to admit.

What happens if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed?

In this video, I argue that the current conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the USA could trigger a seven-stage global economic crisis that will unfold over the rest of this year.

We are already seeing rising oil prices, higher food costs, and growing fears in financial markets. But I suggest that this may only be the beginning.

I explain:

Why oil shortages matter far beyond petrol prices

How inflation could surge again

Why central banks may make the wrong decisions

How supply chains could begin to fracture

Why business failures may follow

And why this could eventually become a banking crisis bigger than 2008

This is not about panic. It is about understanding economic cause and effect before events spiral further out of control.

The political response so far has been dangerously complacent. Meanwhile, the economic consequences are already arriving in people’s daily lives.

The local election results in England and national government elections in Wales and Scotland may prove to be among the most historically significant political events of modern times.

In this video, I argue that Britain’s traditional two-party system is collapsing, nationalism is reshaping every nation within the UK, and the constitutional settlement holding the union together is now under unprecedented strain.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all now led by parties questioning rule from Westminster.

At the same time, England itself is deeply divided over its identity, as Reform keeps alive the divisions created by Brexit, raising further questions about its future direction.

The question now confronting the UK is, in that case, existential.  What is the nation now for, and does it still represent a shared future for the four countries that make it up?

And might it be that each of those countries would now be better off on their own, pursuing a politics of care and the economics of hope, based on redistribution, inclusion, electoral reform, and rebuilding social solidarity within their own national frameworks?

England’s local election results are revealing a dramatic political shift. Reform is making major gains across poorer regions, coastal towns, and former Labour heartlands, whilst London and larger cities are resisting the trend.

In this video, I look at what these results tell us about poverty, inequality, neoliberal failure, Labour’s collapse outside London, Conservative decline, Liberal Democrat resilience, and the Greens’ disappointing performance.

I also ask whether Britain’s traditional two-party system is now breaking apart for good, and what this means for the future of English politics.

The early results suggest a country splitting politically, geographically, and economically, and unless inequality is tackled, Reform’s growth may continue.

Britain may be witnessing the end of two-party politics.

Today’s local and devolved elections could mark a turning point in the political history of the UK. Labour and the Conservatives are now polling at historically low combined levels, whilst Reform, the Greens, and the Liberal Democrats are all gaining and in Scotland and Wales, the SNP and Plaid Cymru are leading polls, questioning as a result the whole nature of the United Kingdom.

In this video, I explain why Britain’s first-past-the-post voting system is now struggling to cope with a fragmented electorate and a fragmented country, why coalition politics may become unavoidable, and why the Westminster constitutional system may not survive unchanged.

I also ask whether proportional representation, Lords reform and wider constitutional change are now inevitable.

Could Britain become a continental-style multi-party democracy as our two-party system and even national unity run out of road?

Will your summer holiday actually happen this year? Who knows, least of all the government, it seems.

And this is just a microcosm of what the whole economy is about to face. The Strait of Hormuz closure and the geopolitical crisis involving Israel, the US, and Iran are not temporary disruptions. They now look to be structural nd ongoing. And the government's response so far is nowhere near equal to the scale of the threat.

So, what should you do right now?

In this video, I explain why this policy is recklessly irresponsible. The government claims that redirecting savings into stocks and shares ISAs will benefit the UK economy, but around 99% of all activity on the London Stock Exchange takes place in the secondary market, where second-hand shares are traded.

No new money reaches UK companies as a result. No jobs are created. The economic rationale for this change simply doesn't hold up.

That means this is the moment to reconsider how you save, and not be pressured by the government into shares if that is not what you think is right for you.

What is actually happening:

The tools to control the damage from this trading already exist, but the government just refuses to use them:

This is not complicated. It is a political choice to permit wartime profiteering. And it is now a necessary political choice to stop it.

Why write 25,000 blog posts? Why make a video every single day?

In this video, I explain what drives my work, why I have spent decades challenging mainstream economics, and why I believe much of what we are told about the economy is simply wrong.

This is not about academic debate for its own sake. It is about the real-world consequences of bad ideas; ideas that shape public policy, justify inequality, and limit what governments claim they can do.

From tax justice and the exposure of tax havens, to the deeper question of how wealth and power are concentrated, I explore how the system actually works, and why it so often fails ordinary people. I also explain why the claim that there is “not enough money” for public services is not an economic truth, but a political choice.

This matters because the stakes are now incredibly high. We face a climate crisis that demands large-scale public investment. We face public services under strain after years of deliberate underfunding. And we face levels of inequality that are both economically damaging and morally indefensible. None of these problems can be addressed unless we first understand how money, government, and the economy really work.

That is why I write. That is why I make videos. And that is why I do it every single day.

If we do not challenge bad economics, it will continue to harm millions. But if we do understand it, we can begin to change it.

Let me know what you think in the comments—and don’t forget to vote in the poll below.

World food prices are already at their highest level since November 2023, and that pressure has not yet fully been transmitted to what you pay at the till.

UK inflation is already expected to breach 5% in 2026, partly as a result of these pressures and the Bank of England warns it could get worse.

Meanwhile, it's the developing world faces the sharpest pain. In countries where food takes the largest share of household income, price spikes tip millions into food insecurity. But the UK is not immune

None of these four pressures arose by accident. Each is the consequence of political choices: the decisions to wage war, to burn fossil fuels, to impose tariffs. And the political response so far is nowhere near equal to the scale of the threat. Will you go hungry? That's the question now? The possibility is real.