
Flickr/CoventryCiaran. Some rights reserved.
The recent statement
from Jeremy Corbyn that "austerity is a policy choice not economic
necessity" provides a welcome return to serious discussion in the Labour
leadership debate. Therefore, the assertions that Corbyn is a “danger” who is
causing harm to the Labour Party and the public in general is quite surprising
and inappropriate (for example, see FT View 15 August,
that Mr Corbyn's candidacy brings "potential harm to...British public
life").
Many of Corbyn's policies are advocated by prominent economists and
commentators. An example is his proposal to fund public investment by the sale
of bonds to the Bank of England. Yet, until now, politicians competing to hold
the centre ground have largely ignored such policies or cast them as
unthinkable.
Corbyn's proposals should be welcomed even by his opponents for stimulating
serious discussion of crucial issues such as the role of the public sector in
investment, management of debt and money, and how to tackle inequality. It is
to Corbyn's credit that he has broadened the policy discussion so that the
shared assumptions behind the narrow range of policies advocated by both
the Conservative government and the other Labour leadership candidates are now
being debated.
Signed by the following teachers and researchers in economics:
Victoria Chick, University College London
Susan Himmelweit, Open University
Malcolm Sawyer, University of Leeds
Annina Kaltenbrunner, University of Leeds
Gary Dymski, University of Leeds
Ruth Pearson, University of Leeds
Hugo Radice, University of Leeds
Ann Pettifor, Prime Economics
Jeremy Smith, Prime Economics
Steve Keen, Kingston University
Eva Karwowski, Kingston University
Engelbert Stockhammer, Kingston University
Alfredo Saad, SOAS
Guy Standing SOAS
John Weeks, SOAS
Carlos Oya, SOAS
George Irvin, SOAS
Ioana Negru, SOAS
Chris Cramer, SOAS
Jo Michell, University of the West of England
Susan Newman, University of the West of England
Daniela Gabor, University of the West of England
Andrew Mearman, University of the West of England
Ozlem Onaran, University of Greenwich
Jeff Powell, University of Greenwich
Mehmet Ugur, University of Greenwich
Giovanni Cozzi, University of Greenwich
Maria Nikolaidi, University of Greenwich
Simon Mohun, Queen Mary University
Neil Lancastle, DeMontfort University
James Meadway, City University
John Grahl, Middlesex University
Rhys Jenkins, University of East Anglia
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