£700bn Covid Money - What is it & Where did it come from?

The £700 billion refers to the total government deficit since the beginning of Covid-19 as of February 2023. Gary CLEAR'S UP CONFUSION ON THIS FIGURE & explains how this is a mix of conventional government borrowing & quantitative easing
The total size of the government debt (and thus the total deficit since covid) can be found here:
tradingeconomics.com/united-k...
Here is our video on how this money ended up with the rich:
• How COVID-19 MAKES the...
For a deeper understanding of the concept of money and what it is, watch our "What is Money Video" here:
• What is Money?
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[@garyseconomics]

Addressing a common question/confusion we are getting: I have said in the video that if the government borrows from you and then gives you the money back, you have doubled your money, as you now have the money AND the debt. Some people have assumed that I mean the government borrows the money and then repays the debt, which of course would not increase society's money. What is meant is that THE GOVERNMENT BORROWED MONEY AND THEN GAVE THAT MONEY AWAY WITHOUT REPAYING THE DEBT. As such, society has the money (because the government has given it out), and society also has the money owed to them (as the government has not paid the debt back). Hope this clears up the confusion on this issue. Thanks! Gary xxx

[@simonetobie1000]

@@Derek-Trotter And so from this, are we to assume that the tax payers become the ones saddled with the debt then? (or the austerity continues?)

[@simonetobie1000]

@@Derek-Trotter they don't appear to work on my behalf 😐, although having said that I didn't vote for them so I guess they are "representing their voters".

[@simonetobie1000]

@@Derek-Trotter maybe just themselves and their oligarch "mates"

[@lynnevenables7193]

@@Derek-Trotter apart from themselves & their wealthy friends.

[@ethelmini]

It might help to "follow the money" from furlough. People weren't working¹, so they didn't have their usual wages. Their employers didn't have to pay out those wages either. We all still had to pay our bills, rent, mortgages etc. So much of the furlough money went straight on to those bodies, who paid it on to repay their own loans, profit, share dividends... Furlough kept money flowing uphill.

[@hilaryporter7841]

Your channel is set to be the most important channel on UK delivered KZbin, looking forward to the next two videos. Mass education is the building block of a healthy society.

[@maarifa4772]

"Mass education" and a "decent job".

[@bigdaz7272]

That is why _they_ spend Billions on propaganda in the State Schools and Legacy Media to _mislead_ everyone.

[@sardav160479]

If someone on benefits gets an over payment for something such as being in hospital for more than a month they have to pay back every penny even if there weren't aware of the error yet the government gave away billions to individuals who didn't need it or deserve it and the government let's them off

[@robertwinslade3104]

The rich play by completely different rules to everyone else then they like to pretend that they got their wealth because we live in a meritocracy

[@NoJusticeMTG]

They did this in 2010s too. Billions of QE to prop up the financial sector and murderous austerity for the poor

[@pipash3953]

Yes HMRC is very very astute at chasing individuals up over comparatively puddly amounts, even where most people are completely innocent because they trust their employer to sort their tax for them, so why no chasing up with people intentionally and fraudulently abusing the COVID schemes to the tune of hundreds of billions of pounds?

[@bereal6590]

That's why I despite the small minded who go on about benefits fraud. In reality it happens but it's a small proportion and it's the genuine people who end up punished!! Yet they vote brexit and tory and say nothing about the huge waste of money and corruption and lies.

[@simonetobie1000]

@@bereal6590 What I find astounding, is that I was unemployed last year and received UC, and was job searching daily. I had several interviews with no success and then managed to find a part time job and was successful in that job interview and so now working part time. the DWP still call me weekly, even though I am working and paying taxes. I am on a low income but I do love my new job, yet because they give me approx £200 a month they call me weekly for some unknown reason! 😳

[@ses6jwg]

I investigate fraud in the bounce back loan scheme and have done for the last 3 years. What I have seen absolutely angers me to the core. Tens of thousands of pounds taken by thousands of individuals and not repaid, many of whom did not need it nor did they use it to support their business but sent it overseas, bought luxury vehicles and holidays or buy to let property. These people aren't hardened criminals either. They're your neighbours, your landlord, your nurse, your yoga teacher, your local courier, your builder.

[@Mamotreco]

Thank you so much for what you do, the information you share, and how you educate others

[@pgtrots]

Hi I criticised you previously for your misunderstanding of energy markets, but I do think your economic analysis is spot on and has changed fundamentally the way I think about the economy so thank you. Looking forward to more videos.

[@lyndaleonard7884]

Love your explanations, very precise. Another great video Gary 👌

[@markwildphotography]

The upper hand held by the government is partly due to lack of understanding by us in what’s going on! You’re educating us, thanks for that 🙏

[@F4UC3]

Great teacher!

[@taliswomanartist8028]

HUGE THANX! 🤩PLEASE KEEP UP GOING ON ABOUT IT 👑❤️⭐️💎...👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@JoshNicotine]

More power to you brother, currently an economics student in Nottingham witnessing the absolute collapse of logic and reasoning within our government

[@luke8443]

I've been watching your channel since the start of covid...honestly the information I've learned through this channel and other various channels like redacted etc are so important to us and our kids. Let's build some momentum... and fair play to you gary for having the balls to speak out!!

[@bradbell4022]

This is so much like MMT, but it seems to me to be just different enough that I'm 2nd guessing and translating for myself. For example, the difference between my bank lending from my account to govt, could also be expressed as, there's a rule in the game, where the bank can mark up govt account BASED ON the amount of money in my account. This is important because it emphasises the rules of the game, rather than thinking of money as an object bound by immutable laws, ie. we can change the rules. In MMT, which is first and foremost a description of how the existing monetary system actually works today, a lot of things are technically different, which shifts perspective, like: all loans, even from private banks, are new money; all money is debt; govt spending creates new money; taxes destroy money, ie. govt doesn't tax, then spend taxes - it spends (creates) and taxes (destroys) money, ie. if govt creates new money to pay someone to build a hospital, and we tax (destroy) an equivalent amount of money from the 0.1%, the money supply remains the same. Me: what's happening is we are creating rules to decide who controls spending choices: just billionaires? Or a potentially democratic govt as well? And by taxing 0.1% we are reducing inequality, especially if we choose to wisely invest the spending, ie. actually democratically. One final MMT example: private sector and public sector must balance, so if public sector goes into debt, the private sector goes into surplus. And if the public sector goes into surplus, the private sector must go into debt (and economy tanks). Never vote for someone planning to "balance the books" or create a "govt surplus" MMT = modern monetary theory. Top show, Gary! So glad you are on our side🙌

[@catherinemartin6258]

No one else is talking about it, and I’m listening 👍🏻

[@purplewhitehair]

very clear and concise. I get it now. Thank you.

[@MrTooEarnestOnline]

I love your analysis. I think the portion about if the rich are getting paid more, you're getting poorer is very important. It basically points out the necessity of social safety nets. As economies grow, they are expressly designed to leave people behind, unless you build against it.

[@petrolhead28]

Very useful information. Thank you

[@alisonrootham2032]

Gary, brilliant again. The way how you tell/teach us helps us all. Thank you xx

[@markh8916]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge, looking forward to the next one.

[@neilmahon7756]

Gary, the more I watch the more interesting it becomes. Thank you for educating people like me. Great work and well done. Neil M

[@JonahX-ui9tf]

Excellent explanation, something everyone should watch, keep up your great work 👍

[@corvus1238]

Thanks again for what you are doing Gary.

[@volcanojuice]

Thank you for explaining in a way I can understand.

[@firefalcon124epic]

Thoroughly appreciate the systemic and mechanical explanantions here. Very useful stuff, do keep it up!

[@markusnystrom852]

Thanks for yet another great video!

[@rebeccasimpson8470]

Yes, Gary. Thanks for being you, caring and sharing all this knowledge with us. Love all these 🤛💙🤛

[@toucan221]

You spelled it out nice and clearly, People need to hear this again and again.

[@rogerbarson5585]

A real fan of your content Gary. Thanks very much!

[@onenation8707]

I'm learning so much from you, thanks, Gary.

[@sugarfree1894]

Is it the same basic thing as in 2008? All that QE, then 'austerity' (copyright Cameron/Osborne) and the stock market soared.

[@jami7772]

Good analogies Gary. When this money was given out was it in the form of furlough and covid business loans and PPE contracts ?

[@rosscobosco]

Love this man, thanks for being a good guy

[@trevorsimmons3073]

Hello People share share , This is the most important utube channel . We have to take action NOW . Otherwise we are screwed . Where is the 700 Billion?

[@hiigara2085]

Thanks Gary.

[@helenp7]

Brilliant. Thank you for this.

[@colinbrigham8253]

Thank you Gary 😔

[@TheIbdeathskull]

Gary gang keeps growing!

[@christianmorson3945]

Thanks Gary - I didn't fully understand QE but you explain things these really well

[@kevincowan2639]

🙋 I already knew what quantitative easing was….. I’ve been a long term subscriber 😅

[@robertwilliams4084]

Brilliant. Thanks for that breakdown Gary. Gonna eat up the next vid.😎

[@jopo8281]

Great video

[@ROSE-mq3qd]

Thank you 🙌

[@robread-jones3698]

Excellent explanation Gary, thanks. I did struggle a bit with the whole I lend £100 which is then given back to me, effectively doubling my money. I couldn't get my head around why the original debt wasn't satisfied by doing this. I think my original confusion was the money going back to the original lender, but then I thought of it like me lending me £100 to a friend who then gives me £100 for my birthday, so I have the original credit which my friend still owes me, and I have £100 gift. So, although £100 has passed back to the original lender, it is for an unrelated reason (i.e. not paying off the debt). Am I understanding this correctly?

[@garyseconomics]

Yes that's exactly right

[@cockroach2.0]

I would also take into consideration from my understanding the fact that money is increasing in society but the number of assets remain the same so money esentialy depreciates in value against those assets. Is this corect in case of inflation?

[@garyseconomics]

Yes I think that is a fair assessment.

[@alymate8318]

Gary, a question. I remember an older interview of yours where you said that if wealth inequality isnt reduced, we will have infinite asset prices. So I wanted to ask, what do you mean by infinite asset prices?

[@garyseconomics]

They will of course never be infinite, but they will continue to rise higher and higher relative to wages until wealth inequality stops rising.

[@dr_ned_flanders]

Gary, that is very enlightening. So during the pandemic, I was on furlough. I did get money from the government but I didn't get richer because I wasn't working. That money went on my spending to survive. I had to pay bills and pay my rent, etc. I have answered my own question which was I didn't get richer, but the shops, my landlord and everyone else that I had to pay during that time did. Although that still seems as though that was the case before?

[@garyseconomics]

The difference is that, during the pandemic, the spending of the rich collapsed, so whereas usually the rich would have pumped (for example) your rent back into the economy, ultimately paying your wages, during the pandemic the government paid your wages, which went to the rich (via your rent) and accumulated there. That's not to say inequality wasnt increasing before covid (it was), it just got MUCH quicker during covid. Full explanation here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5rFnXunl9WLftU

[@tonychorley4936]

Golly, so thats how they got richer. People on furlough spent the money on essentials like rent and food, so not richer, but some companies didnt have to pay wages yet were still able to sell goods or collect rents. Why is the government allowed to keep secret who gained the PPE contracts, only a few are public.

[@BigHenFor]

@@tonychorley4936 They write the rules. Why we are so poorly ruled is because we are poor at seeing how to stop that happening. We need to get PR ASAP, and update our constitution to curb executive power, but we also need to take seriously our politics. I'm not sure anyone benefitting from how things are wants an informed or educated public. If you knew the amount of grift going on, you wouldn't be happy, and a lot more people wouldn't be happy to accept the status quo. And you may have to accept that many people may have a vote, but as long as they are OK they don't care about anyone else, and will still vote out of tribal feelings. Even though they are being screwed over.

[@jaco108]

@@garyseconomics this feels like the key piece of information for me. That all that money ended up in the hands of rich people. Just as the £400bn spent on bailing out the banks after the 2008 crash all went to the bankers, who carried on as if nothing had changed, while the rest of us paid for the bailout with massive cuts to public services (austerity).

[@ethelmini]

@@garyseconomics I'm not sure t he at much "convects" to the bottom of the money pond once it's reached the top. It tends to get used to create debt (by buying assets) taking more of our money when we try to access those same as assets as commodities - particularly house prices & rents.

[@wesselmartens1621]

8:46 small correction - central banks actually RECEIVES interest (this does not invalidate any point made)

[@robsthedon]

Thanks.

[@caparn100]

I think it's worth looking at the M2 money supply. This has increased by over 25% since the start of covid, due to the Central Bank buying government debt. The M2 supply is often looked on by economists as a prediction of inflation as it is a measure of all easy access money in the economy. So there is 25% more money in the economy which means that prices should rise by a total of 25% and everyone should be earning 25% more than they were before covid. Prices have risen but wages haven't people don't have 25% more money than they had before covid because the money hasn't been fairly spread across the economy. Instead the rich have got richer and the poor poorer. The only real solution is to tax the rich and redistribute wealth to help address income inequality. Unfortunately we don't have a government that will do that.

[@billsonwheels]

i value the work you do, thanks gary - one thing that would make your videos even better would be the use of visuals/graphics, e.g. charts and diagrams.

[@billsonwheels]

visual representations could illustrate your words and make it easier for people to interpret, especially when it comes to numerical data like money, debt, etc.

[@jonboymk1bridgemaryfront889]

another great video,keep it up & in time you will grow ur utube channel

[@hlynurstefansson9947]

Just found your channel recently and it´s very rare for an economist to speak clearly and about the problems of the modern economic thought, have you checked out people like Steve Keen, Prof. Michael Hudson and Guy Standing ?

[@tomrees4812]

A friend of mine who had an economics degree used to call the economic theory we get fed by the media all the time ‘Capitalist mythology’.

[@Skylark_Jones]

Gary, what is defined as "public money"? Is it possible to see a break down of how this public money is spent and who or what eg company or organisation or individuals gets it? I also want to say I work in a supermarket, a couple of years ago they gave staff a one-off bonus, it got clawed back by DWP as an overpayment. I now dread one-off extras in the pay packet. The crony covid contracts worth £billions given out to individuals and companies that were misspent, were they ever clawed back?

[@BigHenFor]

On what we call an aggregate or average level, there was more money in society, but it was not given out equally. If it was, you'd be £14,500 richer. And, no, As the government writes the rules about what information is shared, a lot of money paid out is hidden in plain sight. For instance, the Covid Business Loan Scheme, billions were lent out by the government and were never repaid. The government wrote off those unpaid loans. Who got those loans. The records are there but not available to the public. If you did a Freedom of Information Act request for details of those written off loans, you can bet they would use the loopholes in the Act to get out of giving out that information.

[@bereal6590]

No they weren't. They were written off

[@jaco108]

No! Rishi said he couldn't figure out where it had gone, and had decided to write it all off. Simples.

[@morturn]

Thanks for this Gary. If we are going to build a fairer and more equal society, we need to understand the government economic strategy’s that affect everyday people lives, so that they can then make informed choices.

[@stephenc7428]

Hi Gary, With Centrica profits today over £3.8bn, your message needs to be understood by the nation. Great grandfather owned several shops, my dad after a life of work only complained to his grave, sold last of the shops. My entire work-life savings were lost to a dumb gold-leveraged 'investment'. Tax tax tax,. Now I as fuk it, leaving for Philipines and trade treasuries contracts. Your work is an honorable task.

[@efivip93]

Gary, you are awsome, but here is an idea to spread the word faster. Team up with a comedian, best choice imo would be Russel Howards, he is alllready talking about issues like this. He has sections for guests, you could be the guest. Comedy is a really good way for being heaed and have the ideas out there, please, please consider it. Keep up the good work, you're the best.

[@petermanuel5043]

Waiting for the long talks with all these other youtube economics channels like Money & Macro

[@garyseconomics]

We have a long discussion with Novara on the Novara channel if you want to watch it

[@blindstagehand]

I look forward to Gray speaking with Yannis Varoufakis, Carpe Diem, Panta Rei x

[@petermanuel5043]

@@garyseconomics Thanks 👍

[@rayglover8697]

I woud very much like to be your Producer - you have lots of extremely important things to say buy delivery needs tweeking(with respect) - tips;- look into the camera, stop wiping your face, sit up, speak clearly M and B's sound the same 700 million or 700 billion? big difference. Speak in simple terms - concisely. £450 billion Q.E. is printing money and giving to whoever(end of) - this effects the value of the pound. A country that raises its debt not only devalues their currency but importantly and ultimately increases tax burdens - ie ;- one day it needs paying back(plus interest). 5 sentences instead of a 20 minute video. Keep up this great work - cheers Gary !

[@johncorner9295]

Your amazing..

[@GreenLarsen]

Something worth noting, that you might speak about in your next vid, is that government borrowing to spend, do not automatically increase inequality. Its the way said money is spend and on a longer term how said loans are handled that determine this.

[@The_BenboBaggins]

Liked with comment and shared

[@darrenwhite3103]

Hey Gary, thank you for keeping on banging that drum about the £700 billion. I mean you would have to have been living on an island not to notice the massive transfer of money from us tax payers to the private sector. Everything you cover in your videos makes sense, some of the financial processes are, I’m sure, designed to obfuscate and confuse us plebs. Thanks again for sharing your experience and knowledge about this topic, I’m quite ignorant to this process but am learning. 👍

[@ukporkpie7829]

The sad thing is @Darren White, we do live on an island and still people don't get it

[@matthewlloydwinder954]

Morning Gary i love your vids. Ok quick question if i lend £100 to someone i get an iou then when they pay me back the iou gets cancelled and i am not doubling my money? I still have. £100 how is QE different? Is it effectively free issue to the govt who then gives it out ( to furlough) and it then trickles up to the rich? Is the govt deficit required to be paid back? Or is it a lie from the govt to say we cant afford things like wage increase etc..

[@garyseconomics]

The key here is that the government not only borrowed the money, it borrowed the money AND THEN GAVE THE MONEY OUT. If I borrow £100 from you, then give you the £100, AND THEN ALSO repay the debt, you will have doubled your money.

[@ShaunieDale]

The important thing is that the government GAVE the money out, it didn’t LEND it.

[@matthewlloyd-winder7624]

@@garyseconomics ok sorry im still confused -in your above example am i playing the part of the government? and therfore what you are saying is the govt has doubled their money? (due to the way that QE is issued and repaid instantaniously to balance the books) this will then give the govt £100 that they didnt have b4 to give away- and then that ends up gravitating to the rich - for the reasons that you have previously explained. Ahah i think i got it now. keep up the great work

[@bogdiworksV2]

@@matthewlloyd-winder7624basically the government pretended to borrow but in effect handed out money that ended up with the rich after being dangled in front of us. It was all a show so us lot wouldn't riot at the fact the government is sponsoring the rich.

[@ShaunieDale]

@@Derek-Trotter the government received the money as a loan it distributed it as a gift.

[@andrewharpin6749]

Hi Gary, maybe you should cover how FIAT currency works, maybe as an addendum to the last video. You and others obviously understand the situation, but getting that message across to those that don't is of course the challenge. Keep up the fight

[@Jay...777]

Where's my £14,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

[@Monkeyspanner69]

Gary you are a legend. I'd like to buy you a beer.

[@simonetobie1000]

Thanks again Gary for yet another explanation of this. So, technically if I wanted to ask the Government (or an MP), where's my £14k would that be a legitimate question?

[@aliciastan53]

I have the same question because I did not get a penny.

[@vortexfx420]

thats the issue... banks and loans

[@WookiRahh]

Would be nuts to see you in a meeting with some of Goverment... Would love to see thier reactions & responces to this £700 Billion matter and well just the econemy in general

[@SkyEcho7]

🍻 Gary What, if any, is the relationship between QE & devaluation? Devaluation & inflation?

[@susesteed6889]

Hey Gary - thanks so much for making these videos - can you post the link of where the break down is of the £700bn between £450bn QE and £250 private sector? I can't see it in the description. Thanks

[@Patrick-zu5eo]

I appreciate your work trying to explain these concepts, I think a white board and a marker pen using visual examples would be a better way in communicating these concepts.

[@johnburrows3385]

Gary ,what are your views on inflation if the government had invested this money on infrastructure and training ?

[@AdamHarling]

Your figure for the £700b per person changes video to video… I believe that’s because it’s rough number, but for credibility and to simplify the message, you should stick to the same number every time (you have used anywhere between £14k and £17k in the videos I have viewed). Massive fan by the way, brilliant and enlightening content.

[@WhoWroteTheseLegs]

Another great video Gary. One thing I didn’t quite understand is how, and to whom, does the BofE pay interest on money that it has created from the aether?

[@garyseconomics]

It pays it to the banks in which the cash is held. So if you had a huge increase of cash and you held it in a Lloyd's account, it would pay it to Lloyd's. Theoretically Lloyd's then pays (some of) the interest to you if you have a decent savings account.

[@wayneh150]

If you borrow money then get it back you have the same liquid spending power? Or can you liquid the borrowed money?

[@mattsprokit6127]

Need you to have a link up with Russell Brand! You're both fighting for social justice and his platform would give yours a huge boost... I'd look forward to that conversation

[@Loneman_OG]

The one thing I still don't understand is: if the BoE has bought up all of the government's debt and is now entirely the sole owner, why do they _still_ have to pay interest on it, and to who? 🤔🤨

[@lightfoot256]

In the old system where it was backed by gold. If I dug up more gold did that actually add real value to the economy or did they use gold the same as they use money now?

[@garyseconomics]

Digging up more gold would probably simply devalue the gold and cause inflation. There is actually a famous historic story of a West African King named Mansa Musa, who spent so much gold on a journey to Mecca that he caused a significant inflation in Egypt.

[@stevecullum7879]

What I'm struggling with here is that in borrowing money from 'someone' that 'someone' no longer has the money but has an IOU (or debt as you call it?). There is no additional money in the system as a consequence of this transaction and that 'someone' hasn't doubled their money until that debt is repayed? I'm missing something sorry Stumbled across you recently through your fascinating chat with Aaron Bastani and have had my eyes well and truly opened - many thanks

[@garyseconomics]

If I borrow £10 from you, you have the IOU. If I then give you the £10 back as a gift, you now have both the £10 and the IOU.

[@gilliancorkhill5480]

Does QE have an affect inflation though as a factor in our current situation? I noticed that Bank of England mentioning QE on his last grilling from parliament. Thank you for your tireless explanations!.

[@carolined5923]

Banks not paying interest in decent amounts are really profiting off peoples backs. As are supermarkets who are playing with prices with food etc in 2024. Great video

[@knifeprty6219]

You can tell Gary is well off he's wearing a T shirt in the middle of winter in the UK. Must have that heating on a high setting !

[@WilliamAhlert]

Thank you for being an excellent activist channel that goes into specifics so we understand what’s going on. Too many rely on talking points, slogans and ideology, rather than explaining properly the actual benefits of their ideas. You do that and it gives you so much credibility. Keep it up!

[@rinag598]

Always learn new information for you, so interesting! I totally see what you mean when you say who in society has the £700 billion , but I had 3 jobs during the whole of the Pandemic, and I remember the Government telling the nation to , Eat out to help out, (including takeaways), spend your money to help the economy, they took us for fools, they knew exactly what they were doing!!!!

[@ritcha02]

Could you do a mini explainer on what Government bonds and gilts are? Also what the hell actually IS the City of London and why is it a sovereign state??

[@shimmime]

Hey Gary, are you going to do a video on the digital pound? How do you think this will change people's lives and our ability to buy assets and deciding our own future?

[@garyseconomics]

To be honest, I think the digital pound and it's significance is massively overhyped on the internet, so at the moment I'm not planning to do a video on it. But if interest about it continues to grow then I might at some point.

[@shimmime]

@@garyseconomics I do hope you're right about its significance. In the meantime, keep up the good work 👏

[@leezowers3964]

Hey Gary good stuff. I a few months ago was on the BoE's website for this postdoc thing I'm writing. They had a graph which has now disappeared that said they had done over 2000 billion in QE in 2020 alone. How is that different to your figure? Nice one

[@garyseconomics]

You sure you're not out by a gator of 10? 200 billion sounds about right.

[@robertskeen1427]

Would you agree with the analogy about banking at the start of addendum, the zeitgeist film ??

[@realbworld]

Gary, can you comment on what happens when the government withdraws money from society? I have a 1940’s dictionary….. the word “recession” is described economically as “the government withdrawing money from society”. It works both ways, they just don’t publicise the removal…. It’s not great politics.

[@aracrg]

I find your explanation misses the explanation of why inflation occurs. The fact that, by printing money and distributing it, no one actually becomes wealthier. The economy hasn't fundamentally changed through the growth of the money supply. The supply of goods and services has remained the same, only the supply of money has increased, ie. only the potential demand for goods and services has increased. People are not made wealthy by money, they're made wealthy by the goods and services available in an economy. If those remain the same, wealth remains the same. If the supply of money simultaneously increases, the value of money simply decreases, which ultimately just leads to higher prices because the level of wealth which remained the same now has to be distributed more thinly against the increased supply of money. In the case of covid this was probably exacerbated by the lockdown induced foreclosures, leading to an actual decrease of wealth simultaneously while the supply of money increased. And to make matters worse, the increased supply of money was not distributed fairly among people, even though all people are ultimately going to pay for the effects of inflation and the tax burden of interest.

[@garyhouston5014]

Why would the central banks pay interest on new money they've created, this bit confusses me?

[@getreal7964]

Nice one. So either way (QE or Conventional Govt Borrowing), £700Billion of new money has been created since March 2020 which, spread equally, would have made us all £14k richer, which it obviously hasn't. Instead it's gone to the rich who have bought assets like houses, shares etc with it making them even richer and increasing the Inequality Gap, yes ?

[@garyseconomics]

Yes, exactly. Of course, when the rich buy assets, that does transfer some of the cash to the middle class, but only at the cost of stripping the middle class of their assets and wealth, worsening wealth inequality in the long run.

[@FreaksSpeaks]

@@garyseconomics people on benefits get paid more than 14k, so it is not the poor suffer, it is the middle as usual.

[@blindstagehand]

@@FreaksSpeaks er, as a person on benifits I get just under £350 a month,.. times 12 is £4,200 ~ so people on benefits don't get paid more that £14,000. Where do you get your statistics from?

[@curmudgeon1933]

@@blindstagehand You won't get reply from @jaffnasoul, as it does not fit his narrative. He is doing it with good intentions, as everyone else with a bias .lol

[@FreaksSpeaks]

@@blindstagehand £350/month? How do they pay their rent? . Oh it was not included in that, just say £1000/month on rent outside of London. That makes it to easily well over 15k. Then again we do not want to say that out loud as it goes against someone's narrative. There are other benefits goes along with it as well. It is basically earning like 25k before tax.

[@russellwilliams9437]

I was trying to wrap my head around it. Till I remembered to factor in it was all on paper. And your not holding £200 in cash but £100 in cash and a iou for £100

[@andrea2007andrea2007]

Another important aspect of debt is that it can never be repaid. The debit credit system is a zero sum game. Ergo, if the rich wants to get richer, someone(s) need to loose money. There's no real win-win in capitalism, even if we see win-win in UK, that probably means that the money came at the expense of some foreign government or entity or something like that. On the financial market someone has to loose for you to win. Even if maybe that someone was a particular government or company or individual

[@paulscholes54]

Great stuff thanks Gary - couple of points, whilst the maths works, you say that the government taxes and spends or borrows and spends, whereas in reality, the spending comes first, ie it's spend & tax. Whilst only a switch in words, the traditional "tax & spend" gives the impression the government has a pot of "taxpayers' money" to spend, when it doesn't, the bank just creates an overdraft every day when the gov't tells it to pay for something. One bit that confused me is that you said that the central bank pays interest on the borrowing. It's the Gov't borrowing, so doesn't it pay the interest?

[@54wsbrdtyd6ryeb56d]

i think so mate, with our taxes ofcourse

[@curbyi76]

Didn't need the one show level how money is borrowed explanation I wanted to see where the 700,000,000 was spent and how much of it was the furlough money for example?

[@JenksAnro]

If the government borrows my money and I get an IOU, and then the government gives my money back to me, how will they be able to pay the IOU, where does that money come from? That bit confused me. Like in a sense new money has been created, but how and from where?

[@johncondren6393]

Gary what about the furlough loans during covid ? Will these ever be paid back I know stories of people taking as much as 50 thousand and leaving the country

[@FreaksSpeaks]

You won't get reply, as it does not fit the narrative. He is doing it with good intention as everyone else biasrd.

[@ses6jwg]

This has fuelled inflation as a lot of these loans were used to purchase luxury goods and properties and have pushed prices up