“Only war makes it possible to mobilize all of today’s technical resources while maintaining the property system.”

- Walter Benjamin, 1936

About John Mills

John Mills is a businessman and economist. He is chairman of direct to consumer retailer, JML, and has published widely as an economist. His most recent book was A critical history of economics, (Macmillan 2002), which has been translated into Mandarin and is widely used in Chinese university courses

Articles by John Mills

"Currency war" rhetoric obscures the real need for realignment

John Mills 14 March 2013

Global economy remains so imbalanced that significant currency shifts are needed, not only to help pull the West out of its slump but to ensure a stable and viable world for us all.

Foreign ownership of British assets has damaged our economy

John Mills 12 February 2013

Unlike any other developed nation the UK has sold off considerable amounts of its major industries and assets to overseas owners. This has weakened democratic control of industry, inflated our exchange rate and seriously undermined our manufacturing base. Here's why.

Norman Tebbit exchange with John Mills - how to fix Britain's industry

John Mills 22 January 2013

John Mills and Norman Tebbit discuss Britain's approach to manufacturing, home-grown industry, foreign ownership of assets, the exchange rate, and re-examine the choices of former governments and how they have affected Britain's economy today.

Mills responds to Curzon-Price on productivity, wages and the UK's low earners

John Mills 14 December 2012

We may not be able to do much about the top decile protecting their earnings, but we can drive the bottom up if we focus on areas of existing strength in productivity - here's why

Why devaluation could reduce inequality

John Mills 4 December 2012

It is not just Britain's balance of trade that would be aided by a substantial devaluation but also inequality and the host of ills it brings with it. John Mills explains why in this second round of articles from the debate Devalue or Else.

Mills replies to Skidelski: without more devaluation nothing will turn round the UK economy

John Mills 6 November 2012

In this thoughtful reply to Robert Skideslky, John Mills examines the UK's trade performance post-crash and argues that, though requiring a more rounded industrial policy as a whole, any measures taken without further devaluation will fail to turn the economy around.

A price that matters

John Mills 29 October 2012

Reproduced with thanks to Civitas, in this 2012 pamphlet John Mills sets out the case for devaluation as the best means of returning the British economy to balance and prosperity. It is published here in full, except for tables and footnotes, as part of OurKingdom's new series - Devalue or Else!

Economic and social good sense requires the UK to target a lower exchange rate

John Mills 23 November 2011

The exchange rate is the most important single price in the economy: it determines the price of goods for export and the real value of foreign-owned debt. The UK needs a more competitive external sector and can achieve it by much greater quantitative easing

This week's editor

Niki Seth-Smith is a freelance journalist and co-editor of OurKingdom.

Europe from the bottom up

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