frapacioli.bsky.social

How the UK government’s finances really work. Prepare to be surprised – shocked, even. substack.com/@frapacioli/...

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Dear oh dear. One day the stranglehold that the household analogy has on economic commentators will be broken and we’ll have a sensible debate about what real resources can be deployed by the UK government, how, where and with what trade-offs. Till then… 🤦🏼‍♂️

The level of discussion of the UK government’s finances on the BBC is risible. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Beware of finance industry lobbying. It hired PwC (the firm that delivers dud audits) to produce a report, claiming that UK banks face highest rates of tax. The report included taxes not borne by banks. Omitted countries that levy higher rates of taxes. Integrity never gets in the way of profits.

The level of discussion of the UK government’s finances on the BBC is risible. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Every act of Palestinian violence is used by the IDF as a pretext to advance their destruction even further. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A company led by overt fascists with clear sympathies and commercial to a US regime that is an adversary should not have access to information about MoD processes, or be awarded any business that puts the MoD in the position of relying on them.

Why do we pay tax? It's not for the reason most people think. Contrary to popular belief, taxes don't fund government spending because that's already been paid for through money creation. So what is it for? I explain all... youtu.be/SLEo_d11HU4?...

UK lacks essential electricity transmission/storage systems. Billions paid to solar & wind turbine farms to switch off during periods of high sunshine/winds, expected to cost £8bn a year by 2030. National Grid pays dividends. What is the Govt doing? Watch the Minister's reply.

A wild story: the CEO of a US energy company whose plans were discussed during the Witkoff-Kushner-Putin negotiations resigns. Why? He learned that his company's main investor is a sanctioned Russian company, not the UAE www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u...

UK ‘wealth exodus’ was manufactured by the press. The press complaints body IPSO must investigate or step aside. The story started with one study which now admits it has no evidence. Media owned by corporations and the super rich lapped it up, served their economic interest, ideological purpose.

The UK is poorer than we should be - and underinvestment is why. The first of two videos - the second is tomorrow - on why we are poorer than we should be, and what we can do about it. youtu.be/IeZVWKu7FxQ?...

Since 1979, American productivity has risen 93.7%. Hourly pay has risen 32.7%. The pie got bigger, but workers got a smaller slice. I tracked down the UK data and found the same pattern.

Despite what the minister says, the government can, of course, invest directly. It creates the money it needs through the act of spending it.

'Fiscal Rules Are for Sensible Fools'. Fiscal rules are political theatre. They’re announced as financial disciplines, evidence that the grown-ups are in charge – but gamed when inconvenient and abandoned when reality intrudes. frapacioli.substack.com/p/fiscal-rul...

The two most divisive words in UK politics frapacioli.substack.com/p/the-two-mo...

‘Where will the money come from?’ The question has bedevilled UK politics for almost half a century. But the answer is surprisingly simple – MPs. substack.com/@frapacioli/...

Our NHS has been hollowed out over the last few decades. Thank you @premnsikka.bsky.social The UK has 2.4 NHS beds PER 1,000 people Japan: 12.6 Germany: 7.7 Austria: 6.6 France: 5.4 OECD average: 4.2 This is why we have the disgrace of corridor care. It's time to invest and rebuild our NHS

My latest Substack just out: "Five hundred million fewer birds in Europe. Seventy-five million fewer in Britain… Dawns and springs are quieter, the air, emptier” #Biodiversity #Anthropocene #NatureCrisis nataliebennett.substack.com/p/change-eve...

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No one who has seen and heard these accounts can ever unsee them. The absolute, inhumane, psychopathic barbarism of the people making these decisions beggars belief. #Gazagenocide www.theguardian.com/film/video/2...

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Two cheers if this happens. Nowhere near enough to offset the huge £bns subsidy paid via interest on reserves, which goes straight into commercial banks’ profits.

Raising taxes on banks is the right thing to do! For too long governments have propped up the financial system, and since 2022 this has cost the taxpayer billions... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

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Having worked with the insurance and banking sectors for many years, this comes as absolutely no surprise whatsoever Only a matter of time before the continuing explosion of extreme weather begins to take down major insurance companies www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

You may have missed it but the Green Party passed a ground breaking new economic policy at conference, proposed by Sheridan Kates of the Economic policy working group. A thread of interviews! First here's mine: youtu.be/7MB_2G5MeNE?...

The is heartbreaking. Wild bird populations in the UK have fallen to their lowest recorded levels. Farmland bird numbers dropped by 63% and seabird populations fell by over a fifth in the span of five years. The reasons? Intensive farming, avian flu outbreaks and habitat loss.

“The cartoon of a Muslim man preparing to eat a Jewish man’s head is just the latest iteration of media racism.” Faisal Hanif argues the Telegraph cartoon targeting Mothin Ali and Zack Polanski is both Islamophobic and antisemitic. zeteo.uk/p/this-carto...

‘Where will the money come from?’ The question has bedevilled UK politics for almost half a century but the answer is surprisingly simple - MPs. frapacioli.substack.com/p/where-will...

‘Where will the money come from?’ The question has bedevilled UK politics for almost half a century but the answer is surprisingly simple - MPs. frapacioli.substack.com/p/where-will...

No joke. I think this is the most important video I have ever seen about mobile games. This guy breaks down how this game psychologically profiles you, and makes the game harder or easier in order to show you ads

A great video explainer by Critical Latitude about the weakening Atlantic Ocean overturning circulation and the risk of it passing a tipping point. #AMOC🌊 www.youtube.com/watch?v=39t1...

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It’s always jam tomorrow. But it’s the real economy that needs repairing, not the government’s finances.

Make a war film rubbish. A Fridge Too Far

Israeli🇮🇱occupation authorities begin demolishing homes belonging to 80 Palestinian🇵🇸families in Al-Dahiya, in S occupied Palestine #ACT Your verbal condemnation with no action only emboldens Israel😡Work w/member states, weapons embargo, Suspend the EU-Israel AA… @kajakallas.bsky.social @ec.europa.eu

‘Shocking and sobering’: UK bird populations fall to lowest level on record Nearly 1/2 of species are in decline, with farmland birds and seabirds the worst hit, conservation bodies say @jncc.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @btobirds.bsky.social ⬇️⬇️🐦 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It’s always jam tomorrow. But it’s the real economy that needs repairing, not the government’s finances.

AI is going to put a lot of them out of business.

Every establishment journalist is suddenly playing dumb about the most elementary of issues in international law. No states have a "right" to exist – least of all the apartheid, genocidal state of Israel. Matthew Alford reads my latest: jonathancook.substack.com/p/listen-no-...

The Green Party have said that they will refuse to engage with The Telegraph after accusing the newspaper of publishing a “racist and antisemitic” cartoon depicting leader Zack Polanski and his deputy Mothin Ali 👇

@theifs.bsky.social

Flash floods hit northern Nepal on Sunday, sweeping away buildings and at least one bridge along the Budhi Gandaki River. The torrent comes just weeks after a devastating flood on the border with Tibet that killed more than a thousand people.

Ruin a book by adding a word: War and Hair Peace

Food for thought