Finance-led growth is fragile and is dependent on increasing debt to sustain economic activity. Mortgages underpin the system, but as households face flooding risks and economic pressures, the reliance on future borrowing can lead to inevitable crashes, as history has shown, underscoring a fundamentally unsustainable model.
Category: Uncategorized
3: Explaining the 2008 Crash
The 2007-08 financial crisis was caused by aggressive lending and securitization practices that obscured risks, leading to widespread defaults and a global recession.
2: Using debt to drive growth
The implications of financialisation spread across the UK housing market and broader economy. The shift from productive activities to profit-driven financial practices has destabilized traditional banking, leading to increased dependence on consumer debt and profit extraction from wages, while contributing to stagnant productivity growth.
1: The power of banks to issue debt
What happens when flooding risks affecting UK housing end up impacting the financial system’s reliance on mortgages as a savings vehicle? Banks have the unique ability to create money through issuing debt, fundamentally transforming loans into financial assets with multiple ownership claims. This profit-driven model enables extensive capital generation, significantly impacting households and the broader economy.
In over our heads
Speaking at St Polycarp’s, February 23 2025. Acts 14:1-20 – Paul and Barnabas in Iconium and Lystra
Core Incompetencies
Recent job applications have inspired me to view my everyday a little differently… Key Achievements In just one week: I … More
Advice for writing about the improbable
There is advice available for writing about the improbable. The more improbable something is in real life, the greater the … More
Thoughts on 2024
I enjoy December for the sense of the year coming into land. There are well-worn cues of festive street-lights, carol … More
How to hold onto hope
Every other photo on my phone now shows the tree in the garden. It is looking particularly spectacular. The rest … More
Staring into the abyss as a core life skill
The philosopher L.A. Paul talks about “the vampire problem” i.e. how do you choose whether you want to become a … More
In a day
This week I read Frank Skinner’s “A Comedian’s prayer book”. It’s a series of his musings in long and short-form … More
Using joy to undo fear
Joy can be disarming. I’ve just been reading a book about trauma-informed teaching, and it introduced me to the PACE … More