Economists agree Corbyn’s ‘mainstream’ economic plans are a breath of fresh air

Last Updated: August 23, 2015By

Here’s another blow – not only for Jeremy Corbyn’s opponents in the Labour Party but for our hated Conservative Government: His policies of economic expansion have been acknowledged by experts as sensible, mainstream economics, and not the hard-left extremism that some people (Daily Telegraph, take note!) want you to think it is.

More than 40 leading economists, including a former adviser to the Bank of England, have made public their support for Jeremy Corbyn’s policies, dismissing claims that they are extreme, in a major boost to the leftwinger’s campaign to be leader.

In the letter to which David Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee is a signatory, the economists write: “The accusation is widely made that Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters have moved to the extreme left on economic policy. But this is not supported by the candidate’s statements or policies. His opposition to austerity is actually mainstream economics, even backed by the conservative IMF. He aims to boost growth and prosperity.”

writing in the Observer, Corbyn defended his platform and said the government’s “free market dogma” had to be fought and vowed that a Labour government under his leadership would re-empower the state. The chancellor, George Osborne, intends to sell off £31bn of public assets in 2015-16.

Corbyn writes: “Parliament can feel like living in a time warp at the best of times, but this government is not just replaying 2010, but taking us back to 1979: ideologically committed to rolling back the state, attacking workers’ rights and trade union protection, selling off public assets, and extending the sell off to social housing.

“This agenda militates against everything the Chancellor says he wants to achieve. If you want to revive manufacturing and rebalance the economy, you need a strategic state leading the way.”

This confirms observations made on this blog after the latest unemployment figures were published and it was revealed that the economy is freewheeling, with nobody in government trying to steer it in a positive direction.

In defence of the Corbyn camp’s plans to renationalise privatised industries, John McDonnell MP, who is the candidate’s campaign agent, said that privatisation had been “a confidence trick”. He said: “Privatisation over the last four decades has been a history of the British people being robbed and the spivs snatching up the public assets being given the licence to print money. From the earliest privatisations of water, energy and rail to the PFI schemes from the last decade, it has been one long confidence trick.

“Under a Corbyn Labour government this shameful era of governments and ministers colluding in the picking of the taxpayers’ pockets will be brought to an abrupt end.

“Let’s also make it absolutely clear to any speculators in the City looking to make a fast buck at the taxpayers’ expense that if any of these assets are sold by Osborne under their value, a future Corbyn-led Labour government will reserve the right to bring them back into public ownership with either no compensation or with any undervaluation deducted from any compensation for renationalisation.”

Vox Political applauds this commitment to bring publicly-funded resources back under public control. The people of the UK paid for the privatised industries, only to have them taken away by the greedy, with the profits lost in a haze of tax cuts for society’s wealthiest.

Corbyn has been accused – by opposing parties and his opponents in Labour – of trying to drag us back to the political atmosphere of the 1980s.

Isn’t it more accurate to say that he seems like a breath of fresh air?

Source: Jeremy Corbyn wins economists’ backing for anti-austerity policies | Politics | The Guardian

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14 Comments

  1. hayfords August 23, 2015 at 1:02 pm - Reply

    I looked up each of the signatories of the letter. They are all neo or post Keynesian economists, with a large number of them subscribing to Marxist economics. That is not mainstream economics. Even Corbyn’s own pet economist advisor is not an economist in the accepted sense. He studied economics and accountancy and is an accountant. He wrote articles in the Guardian and Observer about how to avoid paying personal tax and how to set up a personal service company to employ a nanny and avoid Nat ins and PAYE.

    • Mike Sivier August 23, 2015 at 1:16 pm - Reply

      They are all good, solid economists who know their stuff. None of your silly Osbornomics there, thank you very much!
      Remember, what YOU accept as an economist, most of the rest of us would describe as a voodoo priest pushing fantasies on us all. Remember when Osborne’s policies were revealed to be based on a spreadsheet error in a paper by Reinhard and Rogoff (two people I dare say you would describe as mainstream economists)?
      Your attempts to smear Corbyn’s supporters bore me.
      You have nothing to say on this matter.

  2. Daniel Margrain August 23, 2015 at 3:02 pm - Reply

    Well said Mr Sivier. It’s not only economists like Krugman and Stiglitz who favour the pragmatic Corbyn approach but sane venture capitalists too. As I wrote in one of previous blog pieces, these people do not argue these things because they are in anyway altruistic but, on the contrary, because ultimately they recognize that demand-led economics will save capitalism from itself:

    http://cultureandpolitics.org/2015/07/15/the-marxist-venture-capitalists-vision-to-save-the-world/

  3. Nick August 23, 2015 at 3:19 pm - Reply

    Danny Blanchflower was at my daughters graduation last year in Cardiff which he was honored with a Honorary Fellow

    He also being like myself from the bank of england and like me very detached from any bubble or influence from anyone else

    There is a clip of him on the Cardiff uni website for those that wish to see it
    http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/about/honorary-fellows/previous-recipients/2014-honorary-fellows#blanchflower

    this link is to watch his own graduation ceremony from Cardiff uni 2014

    Tuesday 15 July
    16:30
    Cardiff Business School (Economics, Accounting & Finance, Specialist Masters & PHD)
    click on View broadband stream
    http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/graduation/ceremonies/live-broadcast/archive/2014

    to view you need to forward in the windows media player to 01:08:00

  4. David Woods August 23, 2015 at 3:54 pm - Reply

    Bit rich complaining Corbyn’s advisors aren’t ‘mainstream economists’ when the current Chancelor flunked out of his university economics course!

  5. Charles N Hay August 23, 2015 at 3:57 pm - Reply

    This site has changed its tune , before the election you were castigating the SNP for this same policy as now being perpetrated by Jeremy Corbyn presently and by the looks of things that is where he got his policy from this might go down well with English Labour but this sounds the death knolls for Scottish labour if he becomes the leader as they have taken the opposite stand point.

    • Mike Sivier August 23, 2015 at 5:36 pm - Reply

      No, I haven’t changed my tune. The SNP was claiming to have one set of policies while actually carrying out others. They’re fake socialists.
      Corbyn’s policy comes from actually being a socialist.

  6. mrmarcpc August 25, 2015 at 4:56 pm - Reply

    Sshh, don’t tell the people this, don’t let them know the truth, otherwise they’ll realise that Corbyn is genuine and intelligent and the other three dimwits who are opposing him and the tories are all deceitful, scaremongering liars who fear him and are trying anything in their power to discredit him, the people cannot know the truth that Corbyn is of sound mind and intellect and could turn this country around, keep up the myth up that he is a scruffy, bearded old leftie who’s clueless, out of touch and nuts! ;)

    • Mike Sivier August 25, 2015 at 5:56 pm - Reply

      Oops. Well, I’ve really blown that one.

  7. hayfords September 3, 2015 at 11:01 am - Reply

    From today

    It is not true that Jeremy Corbyn’s economic plans for Britain are widely shared by economists, according to 55 of them who have written to the Financial Times to argue that ‘Corbynomics’ are likely to be “highly damaging” and certainly do not represent mainstream economic thinking, as has been suggested.

    The 55 academics from across the political spectrum take issue with four particular points:

    • Mike Sivier September 3, 2015 at 11:11 am - Reply

      “Mainstream economic thinking” was what caused the financial crisis of a few years ago, and then flatlined the economy during the early Coalition years (before it hit rockbottom and there was no alternative other than an upturn). It seems unlikely that these people have anything useful to say.

      • hayfords September 3, 2015 at 11:59 am - Reply

        The point is that your story is saying that Corbyn’s economics are mainstream, so how can you criticise mainstream economics. Today’s letter is signed by academics from across the spectrum of politics. The letter signed supporting Corbyn was signed by economists from the left.

        • Mike Sivier September 3, 2015 at 12:35 pm - Reply

          Yes – Corbyn’s economics is mainstream; therefore the people you quote aren’t. They’re just pretending in order to win the support of the gullible.

  8. hayfords September 3, 2015 at 1:22 pm - Reply

    Cameron and the Conservative party have been very quiet about Corbyn getting elected.

    “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake,” Napoleon remarked.

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