Letter: Council cuts could be avoided if Government created cash
I was saddened to read that Shropshire Council is planning £77 million of cuts (Star, December 24) over the next five years as this will result in much hardship and suffering.
What saddens me most is that these cuts would not be necessary if government created money, debt and interest-free, and spent it into the economy (Quantitative Easing in the public interest).
Very few people bother to ask a most important question, which is, where does money come from? The fact is, it is created out of nothing. Many find this hard to believe, but it is true. In recent years the central bank has created £375 billion (QE) and used it to prop up failing private banks. If only this newly created money was pumped into the real economy or even given to citizens (QE for the people).
The greatest problem our nation faces is the fact that private banks have the power to create money every time they make a loan. When you take out a mortgage, the money you borrow doesn't come from somebody else's savings. Instead, it's just created, electronically, by your bank typing numbers into a computer. Those newly created numbers – or newly created money – are what you use to pay for your house.
Unfortunately, it all has to be paid back with interest (bankers' profits), even though it was created out of nothing in the first place. If the borrower fails to repay, the bank repossesses the house, private banks can't lose. Even when they mess-up the central bank comes to their rescue.
Very little will ever change for the better until the power to create money is removed from private banks and placed into the hands of a democratic, transparent and accountable body working in the public and national interest.
I have found the Positive Money Movement via its website to be very good at explaining how the current iniquitous banking system works and how it can be replaced with one which works in the best interests of society.
J Clift, Shrewsbury
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