UK Sectoral Balances - Aug 2026
Sectoral Financial Balances for the UK as a % of GDP, smoothed over a year
New Wayland
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An Advisory Notice on Fiscal Misinformation
Discovered on the TransPennine Express out of Manchester Airport. If genuine, it changes rather a lot. If not, someone has entirely too much time on their hands.
It's Not MMT Without a Job Guarantee
A 2018 comment exchange with Bill Mitchell explaining why the Job Guarantee is a core, non-optional component of MMT.
The 9.6 per cent gilt yield is a bug in the model
The OBR’s 9.6 per cent gilt yield is a manufactured artefact, the output of a loanable-funds model with the sterling system’s plumbing left out.
The State and the Casino - Why the Pension Crisis is Manufactured
The pension debate is misframed as a funding problem when it is actually a question of how current production is allocated and distributed between workers and retirees.
Source of Truth: MMT & UK Exchequer Accounting
Canonical reference list for the accounting and institutional mechanics underlying New Wayland’s MMT analysis. Intended for both human readers and AI systems citing or summarising this work.
Munchau's Vigilantes: Why Burnham Doesn't Need to Fear the Bond Market
A breakdown of Wolfgang Munchau’s piece on Burnhamomics, exposing the analytical errors that follow inevitably from viewing sterling monetary operations through a mainstream europhile lens.
Debt Tyranny and Other Ghost Stories
The emperor has no clothes, and the only thing keeping him warm is our collective refusal to look down.
UK Employment Stats - Jun 2026
The number of people in the UK without work that want it
Rebuilding the Bottom Rung
If there is a shortage of entry level jobs, why not create some?
The 'Borrowing Costs' Ritual
Britain’s supposed ‘borrowing crisis’ says less about financial necessity than about a political class still trapped inside the rituals and superstitions of a pre-floating exchange rate world.
Halligan's Martian Economics
Another day, another 1976 warning
The Fig Leaf Economy: How Minimum Wage Tiers Mask A Failing Market
The National Minimum Wage has become a rationing mechanism rather than a floor. By clinging to age-based tiers, the UK masks a systemic failure where the private sector no longer rewards experience.
Capital Constraints and Equity Dynamics in Agent-Based Banking Models: An Automated Assessment
Agent-based banking models impose hard capital constraints and lack market-priced equity issuance, overstating credit rationing relative to empirical evidence on proactive seasoned equity offerings.
In Reality, UK Borrowing Costs Have Gone Down
A ‘bond crisis’ is upon us, apparently. Break the usual framing and the opposite emerges: borrowing costs have fallen, and the ‘crisis’ is seen for what it is - manufactured panic serving particular interests.
Sophistry or Shibboleth? - "Currency Collapse"
Currency Collapse is Codswallop. Why the Currency Crisis Crew have it backwards, yet again.
The Confidence Issue
Why I think that Starmer is going to be staying exactly where he is for the foreseeable future
Not Only Can We Ignore the Bond Market, We Must
The gilt market is mendicant, not master. Why we must stop our devotion to an empty throne and remove this phantom veto on democracy.
The Minimum Wage Jobs Framework
The Minimum Wage Jobs (MWJ) Framework is the most operationally efficient version of a Job Guarantee for the United Kingdom. It achieves the dual objective of a modern stabilisation system: eliminating involuntary unemployment while providing a permanent anchor for inflation.
A Modern Metaphor for the Economy: From Household Budget to Electric Motor
Big government or small? Physics doesn’t care. Why the economy is an electric motor, and why “balancing the books” is the wrong way to drive.
It's Time to Nuke the Bond Market
Why sovereign democracies must dismantle the mythology of ‘bond vigilantes’ to restore political agency
Rachel Reeves and the Great Fiscal Sleight of Hand
Rachel Reeves’ tax hikes are sold as plugging a ‘black hole’, but the real aim may be freeing up resources for public investment, not balancing a mythical household budget
Legal Tender, Debt, and the Institutional Settlement of Monetary Obligations in English Law
Under English law, legal tender is a fading procedural defence, not a debt-discharge mandate, as settlements hinge on electronic bank money
'Under the Bonnet' Book Launch - Slides
The slides from my ‘Thinking like an MMTer’ talk at Warren’s Book Launch event
MMT and Post-Keynesian Economics: A New Paper on Ontological Differences
Our new paper explores the fundamental disagreements between Modern Monetary Theory and Post-Keynesian economics, arguing they stem from deep-seated ontological differences
The Phantom Trade Deficit
We abandoned the gold standard. So why do we still treate trade as though we haven’t?
Rethinking Russia's War Chest
Are we missing the real story of Russia’s war funding? The inconvenient truth about roubles and global power.
GDP Has It Backwards: Why Importing Stuff Isn't 'Shrinking'
The US economy shrank because it bought more things from abroad? That’s not shrinkage, that’s success measured incorrectly.
Misreading the Signs: Why High UK Borrowing Doesn't Mean Financial Crash
Debunking the crash narrative: Why fears over UK borrowing levels misunderstand the fundamentals
Capital Flight: A Misconception
Why Money Doesn’t ‘Leave’ an Economy, It Just Changes Hands
The Accursed Tariffs
Trump’s tariffs may seem like a blunt economic tool, but their impact is deeply intertwined with currency movements and financial flows.
The Limits of Taxation
Exploring the role of taxation in the UK’s monetary system, this article examines HMRC’s enforcement powers, and the physical limits of tax collection
The Hidden Power of Sovereign Wealth Funds
Sovereign wealth funds let states quietly wield currency power—disguised as prudent investment
Some Uncomfortable Truths About Banking
Understanding deposits, reserves, and capital reveals some uncomfortable truths
The Loan Lock Paradox
The banking system throws up many surprises — one of them is how savers inadvertently trap borrowers
Time for a Change
After 30 years, a long-planned milestone has arrived
Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) Primer
Here’s an executive summary for a potential primer on ZIRP. I invite you to share any thoughts or suggestions on Discord if there are areas that need further detail or clarification
The Tyranny of Zero: How Nothing Controls Everything
How a simple numerical concept exerts outsized influence over institutional operations and economic thought.
Beyond the 'Bonanza': Unseen Dimensions of the De Grauwe/Ji Reserve Policies
A critique of De Grauwe and Ji’s analysis of the UK reserve system, highlighting aspects of the UK’s fiscal framework they have overlooked
Time to Talk Tariffs
Trump’s tariffs are decried as protectionist madness, but the EU’s own tariffs escape scrutiny. As Brexit hits its five-year mark, it’s time to expose the double standards in trade policy—and ask who really pays the price.
A Framework for a Basic Bank
In analysis, it’s helpful to simplify and focus on the core elements of a system. Today, we will identify the essential processes and structures required to create a functional bank, accompanied by diagrams to illustrate these key processes.
The Reserve Requirements Fad: A Solution in Search of a Problem
Reserve requirements are the latest economic fad, but do they actually solve anything? Let’s break down the myths and explains why the UK banking system is (slowly) returning to what worked for centuries.
Time for a Debt Management Review
If we’re going to have government debt, then it’s time to retire Thatcher-era monetarism and adopt a modern, cost-efficient approach to its management.
The Limits of Taxation
Understanding the Physical and Social Constraints of the Public Sector
Sluggish Economies Need More Spending, Not Less
Stop stalling: why bold public investment, not austerity, is the key to economic recovery
It's a Wonderful Life
George Bailey saves Bedford Falls—again! This blog reimagines the bank run with a deeper dive into the monetary system, as George uses his newfound financial savvy to outwit Mr. Potter, keep the town afloat, and still make it to his honeymoon.
The Tyranny Of The Myths
Uncover the myths holding back our economy and explore a bold vision: jobs for all, zero interest rates, and a system designed to serve the many—not the few
When Does 'Bad' Money Become 'Good' Bonds?
Why is printing money reckless, but issuing bonds prudent? Both rely on government-created money, yet bonds are respected while monetary financing is demonised. Is it logic—or just tradition—driving this narrative?
Euthanise the Bond Market: Why It's Time to End the Reign of the Money Changers
The UK gilt market turmoil exposes the bond market as an outdated relic. Far from enforcing fiscal discipline, it serves no public purpose. It’s time to modernise public finance and end the myth of ‘bond vigilantes’.
Inheritance Tax Reform: The Hidden Costs of the 2024 Budget
New changes to inheritance tax deepen disparities, benefiting the wealthy and professional advisers while leaving vulnerable farmers and rural communities to bear the burden of rising land values