Mom asks: What’s monetary and fiscal stimulus?

Currency - Money - Economics - Fiscal - Monetary

(When my mom – ex middle school science & economics teacher – asks about monetary and fiscal stimulus)

When does an economy grow?
At a simple level, when earning/spending increases.
People and companies spend more when they have more money.
They get more money from increased borrowing, or increased income.

The government, when confronting low inflation and low growth, wants to increase this spending.
It has two sets of tools – monetary and fiscal – to stimulate this growth.

Monetary tools target increased lending/borrowing, and fiscal tools intend to increase income directly.

Continue reading Mom asks: What’s monetary and fiscal stimulus?

Fiscally conservative, socially liberal, politically deceased

New Labour - Lib Dems
Fiscally conservative, socially liberal, politically deceased

Fiscally conservative, socially liberal – the political space where new Labour resided, and where Lib Dems should be.

In my opinion, it’s the best choice for a prosperous, yet fair society. Yet, the hardest option to sell. Specially to an ageing population, in a hyperbole-driven, politicised media landscape.

The opposite – social conservatism (Tories & UKIP), and fiscal liberalism (old Labour) are both much easier to sell.

We’ve managed to elect a government that the media, both on the right and the left, have found wanting.

What would it take to get elected a government that the media, both on the left and right of centre, find able.