Funding the Future

As Christmas approaches, many people ask what they want. But there is a more important question we should be asking: what did we need – and not get? In this video, I look at the UK’s real economic failures over the last year: persistent poverty housing insecurity untreated illness a hidden personal debt crisis rising political hostility These are not marginal problems. They are systemic failures of economic policy and political courage. I also set out what we actually need: poverty reduction as a national objective, secure housing, investment in care, fair taxation, and politicians willing to stop fearing bond markets and start acting in the public interest. This is not about pessimism. It is about honesty – and hope. Because if Christmas means anything, it must mean that change is still possible.

Explore the ancient Greek concept of pleonexia, the insatiable pursuit of more at others' expense. Discover how this idea is evident in today's big tech excesses, harmful bond markets, and government policies prioritizing balance sheets over human need. The discussion critiques the moral failures embedded in modern economics, linking them to 45 years of neoliberalism that glorifies selfishness and entitlement. Ultimately, there's a call for a shift towards an economy grounded in care and fairness, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing these issues.

Explore the heated debate around wealth taxation and why a streamlined approach may be more effective. Richard Murphy argues for taxing income and gains over complex wealth taxes, emphasizing potential revenue differences. He highlights how proper taxation can expose hidden assets and strengthen democracy by reducing wealth concentration's market distortions. With practical reform proposals laid out, he calls for concrete actions to achieve a fairer, faster taxation system by 2026.

Christmas is economically strange. We stop working. Spending surges. Profit stops mattering. Time off is normalised. Family and care come first. And we accept all of this without question. That should make us pause. Because if we can suspend the rules of economics at Christmas, then those rules were never inevitable in the first place. This video is not about religion or ritual. It is about what the Christmas season reveals about our economic choices. It shows that we can pause economic activity, value rest, prioritise care, and organise work around life rather than the other way around. Christmas proves that life is more than money — and that a better economy is possible. The real tragedy is not Christmas excess. It is forgetting the lesson in January.

Is the NHS really in crisis because of money — or because we are asking the wrong question altogether? In this video, I argue that the central failure of the NHS is not underfunding alone, but the way illness itself has been turned into a consumer product. Chronic conditions now dominate healthcare, patient demand has exploded, and pharmaceutical profits shape treatment pathways, often at the expense of prevention, patient agency, and genuine cures. I explore why GP consultations have doubled, how medical intervention can itself create harm, and why lifestyle-based prevention is systematically sidelined. I also ask the question no politician wants to answer: who benefits from a system that manages illness rather than reduces it? This is a political economy critique of healthcare, not an attack on doctors or patients, and it challenges the idea that simply spending more money will necessarily fix the NHS.

Is tax theft? Many people think so — and that belief shapes how we vote, how we treat public services, and how democracy functions. In this video, I explain why the popular claim “it’s my money, why should the government take it?” is based on a fundamental mistake. Income does not exist before the state. Jobs, wages, money, contracts, and property rights all depend on government systems that come first. Tax is not punishment. It is not confiscation. It is a macroeconomic tool that stabilises the economy, controls inflation, shapes markets, reduces inequality, and sustains democracy itself. If you care about public services, economic stability, or democratic accountability, this is the conversation we need to have.

Most people think that economics is about money, that government spending is constrained by tax, and that public services must always come second to “balancing the books”. All of that is wrong. In this video, I explain why money is not scarce, why governments create it, and why treating money as the central economic constraint has led to unemployment, inequality, wasted lives and environmental damage. Economics is not about money. It is about people, resources, care, and planetary limits. When we put money first, we get injustice. When we put people first, economics starts to make sense again. So the real question is simple: Do we want money in charge – or justice?

Inequality is not an accident. It is not natural. And it is not inevitable. According to the United Nations’ World Inequality Report, inequality results from deliberate political and institutional choices. This video explains what that means for the UK – and why extreme concentrations of wealth now threaten democracy, climate stability, and social cohesion. I examine the evidence behind the report, the role Britain has played in designing inequality at home and abroad, and why progressive taxation and redistribution are proven tools for change. The question is no longer whether alternatives exist. It is whether our politicians are willing to choose them.

For 50 years, Western politics has rested on a single promise: growth. But what if that promise can no longer be kept? In this video, I ask a question almost no politician dares to face: what happens to democracy when growth flatlines permanently? I explore stagnant wages, finance-driven “growth”, asset bubbles, pensions, public services, and the political risks of a collapsing economic myth. If growth cannot return, we must change the purpose of the economy itself — or risk losing democracy along with it.

The podcast dives into the staggering pay disparities between CEOs and workers, framing it as a form of extraction rather than entrepreneurship. It discusses how extreme executive compensation fuels inequality, weak productivity, and political corruption. The conversation emphasizes using tax policy to alter behaviors around high pay, highlighting proposals like denying tax relief for excessive earnings. Additionally, it warns of the threat to democracy posed by extreme wealth concentration and advocates for fairer worker representation in profit-sharing.