Escaping growth dependency, one step at a time
Positive Money’s report Escaping Growth Dependency, published in early 2018, drew a link between the current debt-based monetary system and the escalating ecological crisis. The report also offered reforms and
BlackRock urged to close gap between rhetoric and real climate action
Investors and shareholder advocacy groups have called on BlackRock to vastly improve its climate engagements, in anticipation of its CEO’s yearly letter to companies reminding them of their need to
We’re asking Davos – what is wealth?
For decades, we’ve been getting wealth all wrong – and now our societies and our planet are paying the price. This January, the Green Economy Coalition is heading to the
Moneyland: Why Thieves And Crooks Now Rule The World And How To Take It Back
From ruined towns on the edge of Siberia, to Bond-villain lairs in Knightsbridge and Manhattan, something has gone wrong with the workings of the world. Once upon a time, if
Developing country borrowing costs increase 7 times more than US in past year
Interest rates on new developing country borrowing increased by an average of 2.2 percentage points over the course of 2018. Yields on low- and lower-middle income country debt, calculated by
Landscapes of Accumulation: Real Estate and the Neoliberal Imagination in Contemporary India
Over the past few decades, India has experienced a sudden and spectacular urban transformation. Gleaming business complexes encroach on fields and villages. Giant condominium communities offer gated security, indoor gyms,
Greening the banks: The Bank of England is taking climate change seriously
The structure of our financial sector is fundamentally misaligned with the challenges and risks posed by climate change, and the Bank of England knows it. In an unprecedented move by
Sierra Leone: Ebola debt to IMF contributes to big cuts in public spending
In November the IMF agreed a new $172 million loan programme with Sierra Leone, spread over the next 3 and a half years, until mid-2022. At the same time, the
Financializing Poverty: Labor and Risk in Indian Microfinance
Microfinance is the business of giving small, collateral-free loans to poor borrowers that are paid back in frequent intervals with interest. While these for-profit microfinance institutions (MFIs) promise social and
Unbelievable! The Ethical Failure at the Heart of Corporate Tax Avoidance
In this year-end guest blog, Tristan Shirley explores the belief system that underpins tax avoidance by multinational corporations and reflects on the ethical failures revealed by their unbelievable behaviour. Almost
New Bank of England research adds to the case against loanable funds
Understanding banks hasn’t always caused such difficulty for economists. In the first half of the twentieth century, theorists like Joseph Schumpeter outlined the role of banks in creating and allocating
What economic reform thinking might have looked like if we’d bothered to do it.
Here I am back… in the Treasury like a recurring decimal – but with one great difference. In 1918 most people’s only idea was to get back to pre-1914. No
Vulture funds and governments seek profit from Sudan debt relief
Today the Financial Times has reported that a group of vulture funds have hired lawyer Lee Buchheit to argue for debt relief for Sudan. They hope that if the North
Revealed: A data revolution for people and planet
Financial Innovation Lab excited to reveal the 16 entrepreneurs selected to take part in Lab Fellowship 2018-19, a groundbreaking incubation programme for financial innovators with a social mission. Our Fellows
10 Years after Testimony from the Crash
The following is based on the actual testimony of real people who were affected by the Crash in different ways. It was performed as an improvised piece by Annee Blott
Victorian Values
Banks are scrabbling to find some trust. Robert Mochrie explains how they might look to the distant past. The nature of banking transactions demonstrates the need for trust between the
What’s the impact of impact investing?
The roles of pay-by-result within public policy Source: Addarii et al., Funding Social Innovation (forthcoming) Filippo Addarii, Alexander Shapiro and Marco Sebastianelli offer a short introduction to the ambition,
By so many, to so few
In the centennial year of the RAF, Churchill’s words attesting to the valiance of Britain’s fighter pilots have a less chest-swelling relevance to wealth in the UK. Tom Burgess writes
Out of the shadows
How did the central banks find themselves holding the torch that keeps the shadow banks in existence? Leon Wansleben throws some light. You are likely to read this piece at
What do we need more of?
Our economic system still fails to allocate enough funds to strategic investments such as infrastructure, industry and education. Alexander Tziamalis tells how our times call for important economic and policy