“There’s no magic money tree”

Tory general election campaign slogan.

Well there are lots of them, actually.

How about the ability of banks to create money out of thin air and charge interest on it, gaining profits in the process? Why do you think banks have the biggest buildings in towns and cities and reliably generate huge salaries, bonuses and profits? Central banks could take over all money creation, to the benefit of all. See discussion at Positive Money.

How about tax havens and the ability to avoid paying taxes, let alone massive tax avoidance schemes  – all facilitated by such as the City of London?

How about shell companies invented purely to hide profits from the eager eyes of the tax man?

How about foreign exchange speculation that could, with a small Tobin percentage extracted, provide extra tax income at virtually no cost?

How about properties that are purchased simply to shelter untold riches, ill-gotten or otherwise, from home countries – and minimally taxed even though empty?

How about employers who drive down wages to subsistence levels or move work to foreign shores, simply to maximise profits?

How about companies that pay executives hundreds of times the amount they pay to ordinary workers?

How about insider trading in stock exchanges?

And on and on…

There are plenty of magic money trees. It’s just that the beneficiaries are reluctant to share their good fortune with the rest of us.

In a democracy, government should be about a fair deal for all.

Featured image from Positive Money blog see above.