Cut Benefits to Bankers, Not Public Services (One Good Cut)

SIGN THE PETITION at http://www.positivemoney.org.uk
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George Osborne says that we all must pay more taxes and receive fewer public services. According to the chancellor there is no Plan B for the UK economy - but he's utterly wrong.

We could make one simple spending cut that could make all others unnecessary.

Here's Plan B: cut the benefits to bankers!

Banks are the most heavily subsidised businesses in the world, specially protected by governments. While the money runs out for the rest of us, the largest private banks still thrive. This is because they get the biggest subsidy of them all - the licence to print money.

Hard to believe? Martin Wolf, the Chief Economics Editor at the Financial Times, said it recently: "The essence of the contemporary monetary system is the creation of money, out of nothing, by private banks' often foolish lending..."

You heard that right. Private banks create money out of nothing! Then they loan it to us and ask for interest on top!

If you've ever wondered why the bank buildings around the world soar higher than any palace or spire ever did, you now have the answer.

But the banks don't simply print money using secret printing presses in their basements. They don't have to. Like so many other things these days, printing money has now gone digital. With the popular use of debit cards, electronic fund transfers, and internet banking, only 3% of the money in the UK is now made of paper and metal coins. The other 97% is entirely in computers. Electronic money is convenient for everyone, but it's especially convenient for the private banks, since they own, run, and control the entire digital money system.

And what do they do with this special privilege? Do they channel new money, the blood supply of the nation, towards the things we need like hospitals, schools, universities and public transport?

Not if it doesn't make a profit for them. Instead they use their licence to print money to gamble on the financial markets and pushing house prices out of reach of ordinary people by pumping hundreds of billions of pounds into risky mortgages. This is exactly how the banks caused the financial crisis, and now the rest of us are being asked to pay for it.

George Osborne is essentially asking us to protect the gambling habits of a gang of overpaid paper pushers by raising taxes and slashing public services, both of which hurt the poor more than the rich. If we can't afford to run hospitals and build schools, can we really afford to subsidise the financial industry? Should we have to live with less so the bankers can have more?

This is ludicrous, and it's time to put a stop to it. The private banks can't be trusted to hold the reins to our entire economy.

Instead of cutting vital public services so that bankers can continue to enjoy the high life, we need to take away the bank's power to create money out of nothing.  This will stop them from causing yet another financial meltdown and allow us to afford the crucial services that we as a society need.

So join us in sending this message straight to Mr. Osborne: there is a Plan B for the UK economy. Cut the benefits to bankers out, not the things we care about!

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• spending cuts
• financial crisis
• george osborne
• bankers
• banks
• banking reform money creation
• uk economy
• plan b
• austerity
• one good cut
• positive money
• economic recovery
• money
• debt crisis
• debts
• banking reform
• banking system
• monetary system
• fractional reserve
• full reserve banking
• reserve requirements
• loans
• credit
• interest

[whydidigetdeleted]

Get this on TV! Is the percentage of people who don't believe (or are unaware) in all this less than the created money?

[PositiveMoneyUK]

@whydidigetdeleted

Yes, probably. Any help to get this on TV would be highly appreciated :-)

[orangejon]

Great video! It's such a boost to the campaign, I'd love to know who made it!

I think most people will come away thinking "print money?! wtf?", which is exactly the right response..

[PositiveMoneyUK]

@orangejon - the talented animator who made this for us is Rob Wicksteed. Google him and check out his other stuff - it's great work.

[209275chu]

They must not forget, that the European Banks who had activities in the US had to invest half of its capital in mortgage, this was the strict rule of the US government to operate there. That's why banks like ING had to invest 100 billion into US mortgages and you now know what will happen if the market crashes. European banks get in trouble. This is due the government interference. Banks shouldn't have more rules, it will make matters worse. If banks screw things up let them go bankrupt.

[PositiveMoneyUK]

@209275chu - agreed, more rules and regulations aren't the answer. The proposals that we've outlined on the Positive Money website (see Solutions) set out a simple framework that the banks can operate in, knowing that if they mess up, they'll go bust and certainly won't be rescued.

[spfanluke]

On the 26th of March the TUC have organised a protest in London against the cuts to public services, the MET and TUC are predicting 500,000 people to turn up, Lets double this. Search for March for the Alternative: Jobs, Growth, Justice on facebook and invite your friends and family.

[ModernPlague]

GREAT VIDEO!!!!

information revolution is underway, friends------

now watch out for our governments to pass "internet kill-switch" bills

that would allow them to cut the public's internet access!

Obviously, the elitist fat-cats fear this INFO-WAR, because the numbers aren't on their side! Stop watching (or at least believing) your TV, that's one major blow against the elitists right there. FUCK their mainstream media.

[faro0485]

This deserved a million hits, and should have been the campaign ad for UKIP

[faro0485]

@cesarG222 they're ending paper money in germany

[faro0485]

@CrazyRaverBaby /watch?v=ZPWH5TlbloU

[cesarG222]

@CrazyRaverBaby You are wrong. Private banks do create money, they do this whenever they make loans (understand Fractional reserve banking) .

[knowledgeispowerfful]

This music is very distracting!! I can hardly hear what the message is. I hope someone would do this vid over, but without that f-ed up music. Plz, its about the message so that ppl can get educated, and not about that dumb a*s loud trance sounding music. WHAT A WASTE!!!

[CrazyRaverBaby]

This whole video is wrong, private banks don't print money, don't put so much effort in to making a video on something you don't understand

[CrazyRaverBaby]

@AwesomeBeatles why would anyone lend someone else money without charging interest, when theres a risk that you wont be paid back?

[ncollier1]

Watch /watch?v=n4em7VeCHSs and /watch?v=7R4yEqdKYyM to make sure that you have not been brainwashed and have an accurate pitcture of things !!!!

[Adriaan1950]

A negative interest money system creates paradise on earth:

youtube.com/watch?v=7kk6fplyLT­I