The free-spending policies that will never leave the virtual world
Our politicians are all promising voters the world. But mostly, it is just pointless showing off, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
You can now buy a digital dress. You send a picture of yourself to a designer. He dresses you virtually, "digitally rendering" the clothes onto your body, says The Times. You can then stick pictures of the digitally-done you all over Instagram and Facebook. You'll get lots of likes. You will also never wear or touch the dress. It will never actually leave social media. That makes it just like a modern political manifesto.
What then of the Tories? How much of their manifesto will make it off Twitter and into reality? It is definitely very much less of a digital dress than the rest. But it still involves more, not less public spending, something that assumes that the UK tax take can rise from here (mostly via loophole closing and aggressive anti-tax evasion measures). That's not ideal. Dominic looks at why in this week's magazine.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
His key point? Medieval serfs were forced to work for their feudal lords for half the week in return for the right to survive. These days, one way or another, you hand over about 47% of all you earn to the state. You get very significantly more back from your protector than the serf could have dared dream of (which is nice) but, unless you up sticks and leave the country (which he could not), you don't get much more choice in the matter of where the money you earn goes than he did. This isn't how countries get or stay rich. It also, in general, tends not to offer much in the way of real value to taxpayers: all too often state-run services cost too much and achieve too little (see our briefing on the NHS in this week' smagazine).
Sticking with the theme of value, you might not be going to get it from our digitally-dressed government contenders but you can certainly get it in the stockmarket. The valuation gap between growth stocks and value stocks is at an extraordinarily high level. That's unlikely to last much longer particularly in the UK where there is a very real possibility of a post-election "Boris bounce" (or relief bounce). Turn to this week's cover story for Matthew's take on why now is the time for value investors to shine and the stocks that might help them do so. If you want to add even more value to your portfolio, keep an eye on London's fintech scene. Right now you pay for every trade you make. You don't pay much relative to what you paid 20 years ago. But nonetheless, if you are a frequent trader, even £5 a go adds up. Good news then that free trading is on the way. Finally, I'd like to say thank you to all our brilliant speakers and engaged audience members at the MoneyWeek Wealth Summit last week. It was, I think, a huge success I had a wonderful day and hope you all did too.
-
The UK areas which saw biggest jump in asking prices in 2025 – is yours on the list?We look at the UK areas where asking prices rose the most last year.
-
‘Sandwich generation’ carers losing £6,000 a year to support elderly relativesMiddle-aged adults are often caught between caring for children or grandchildren and their elderly parents, leaving them taking time out of the workforce and facing a huge hit to wages while they are still trying to save for retirement. We look at the true cost of caring.
-
Beating inflation takes more luck than skill – but are we about to get lucky?Opinion The US Federal Reserve managed to beat inflation in the 1980s. But much of that was down to pure luck. Thankfully, says Merryn Somerset Webb, the Bank of England may be about to get lucky.
-
Inflation may be slipping but there is still plenty of misery aheadEditor's letter Inflation may be a little lower than last month as the prices of petrol and diesel fall back, but it remains structural and long-term, says Merryn Somerset Webb. And there are no painless solutions.
-
Beat the cost of living crisis – go on holidayEditor's letter As inflation rages, energy bills soar and the pound tanks, what’s a good way to save money this winter? Go on holiday, says Merryn Somerset Webb.
-
How to tackle rising inflation and falling stockmarketsEditor's letter Inflation is rising around the world. Even though inflation is widely expected to return to around 3.5% next year, it is still wreaking havoc. Merryn Somerset-Webb explains what to do about it.
-
How capitalism has been undermined by poor governanceEditor's letter Capitalism’s “ruthless efficiency” has been undermined by poor governance, a lack of competition and central banks’ over-enthusiastic money printing, says Andrew Van Sickle.
-
Don't be scared by economic forecastingEditor's letter The Bank of England warned last week the UK will tip into recession this year. But predictions about stockmarkets, earnings or macroeconomic trends can be safely ignored, says Andrew Van Sickle.
-
The biggest change in the last 17 years – the death of the “Greenspan put”Editor's letter Since I joined MoneyWeek 17 years ago, says John Stepek, we’ve seen a global financial crisis, a eurozone sovereign debt crisis , several Chinese growth scares, a global pandemic, and a land war in Europe. But the biggest change is the death of the “Greenspan put”.
-
The wolf returns to the eurozone’s doorEditor's letter The eurozone’s intrinsic flaws have been exposed again as investors’ fears about Italy’s ability to pay its debt sends bond yields soaring.
