Sovereign Finance

Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are in normal font. I've got a short quote from Caitlin Johnson to share today. We both follow Caitlin, she's at https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/. She says in one of her articles : Market forces are not guided by wisdom, they are guided by greed and fear, and by the unresolved early childhood trauma of the Musks and Theils and Bezoses of this world....

Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are in normal font. Today we're going to be talking about several frameworks you've got in mind for life operating an enterprise, all sorts of things. So, where do we need to start? I thought I'd return to the focus, which is the core of what we set out to do with sovereign finance, which is to show some light on the whole nature of wealth and the cr...

Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are in normal font. Today at the time of recording is the 7th of February. Things continue to move at pace, so we thought we'd do a quick roundup of recent events in the last week and see what's relevant from a sovereign finance lens. Where do we need to start? Well, I mean, I think the most obvious thing from this week is Donald Trump's bull-in-a-Ch...

Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are in normal font. Right, okay, so we've had another week of Trump's presidency. Lots of squeals of outrage from all directions. The Senate confirmation hearings are going ahead now. Predictably enough, Robert Kennedy's been given a hard time by several of the senators... Several of the senators who are notably being paid by Big Pharma. Most reports...

Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are in normal font. Today is the 24th of January, so we are on day five of the Donald Trump administration, its second time round. There's definitely a lot going on. What do we need to recap from a Sovereign Finance lens? Well, I think there's a lot which will have implications for all of us, particularly with Trump's pronouncements. The word constan...

Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are in normal font. We're going to do a bit of a recap as we approach the end of January. We keep saying every week on the show, if you don't like what's going on this week, come back next week because the world might be different. We were having a chat before the call, we established that I've been head down in my bunker, not paying attention to wor...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics, Derek’s comments are in normal font. We're talking today about a book that personally has really helped me on my business journey. It's a fast book to read and that book is Profit First. Why are we covering ‘ Profit First ’ and what do people need to know about it? Right, because this is the best summary that I've found of an actual concrete proposal for methods...

In this episode, Rob and Derek reflect on the significant economic changes of 2024, particularly the rise in inflation and its impact on everyday life. We discuss the growing divide between the financial world and the real economy, the limits to growth in a finite world, and the implications of warfare on energy consumption. The conversation also touches on the increasing awareness among the publi...

This conversation rounds up goings-on in mid-December 2024, including events in Syria. This episode is audio-only, please use the ‘transcript’ button above to read an automatically generated transcript. Thanks for joining us in 2024, Sovereign Finance will be back in January! Thanks for listening this episode of Sovereign Finance. For more episodes, transcripts, in-depth articles, and the communit...

Kay: Rob’s comments in italics Derek’s comments in normal font Our topic today is farming, some of the changes coming in the agricultural sector and BlackRock's potential involvement and firms like BlackRock. I wondered if I should just start. This topic was requested by a listener who pointed us towards one of Daniel Priestley's LinkedIn posts. I'm going to start by reading that out just as a sta...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics, Derek’s are in normal font. Our topic today is Labour's plans for the British economy and how those plans appear to be highly divorced from reality. Which sounds like a big topic. Where do we need to start with this one? The best place to start might be Rachel Reeves' statement in the budget. She said the only way to deliver economic growth is to invest, invest,...

Rob’s comments are in italics Derek’s comments are in normal font You were telling me about a letter you wrote to Apple once that generated a lot of revenue... Being an Apple dealer was possible as a small player once, although they rapidly weeded out those not operating at their desired scale. My letter aimed to retain my dealership, which provided a tidy revenue. Apple relayed the contents of th...

Rob’s comments are in italics Derek’s comments are in normal font Our topic today then is "stock" and "flow". Right, this is a fundamental point. I sometimes worry whether I'm labouring the point in our broadcast series by stating the obvious. This concept will provide clarity to every aspect of what you examine once you're clear on it. A stock is the measurement of any quantity. We think immediat...

Rob’s comments are in italics Derek’s comments are in normal font Initial Comments on the US Election The American election results on November 8th produced a Trump landslide. Many people tried to convince themselves it was neck and neck. Not to anyone paying attention - I had it fairly nailed on that it was quite likely. The significance for our discussion lies in the effect this outcome has had...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics, Derek’s are in normal font. So we're going to talk about doughnut economics today. And you mentioned before the call that there's a topical item for us to talk about too. So what is that topical item? Developments in the BRICS Alliance… Well, the topical item is that already it must be a year since the last time this was happening because they've just had a conf...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are normal font. As the world is rapidly changing around us, I thought we could maybe comment on some current affairs items on this episode... Terrorism Under The “Anti-Terrorism” Act Yeah, it's been quite a week. One bit of news that really struck me is that a journalist in London had their house raided by 10 metropolitan police officers from t...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics. Derek’s comments are normal font. Our topic today is energy, which on the face of it may not seem to relate that obviously to sovereign finance, but we think it does. So where do we need to start? Why We Need Energy Let's start first off with why we actually need energy. We need energy first and foremost for staying alive in the form of food. We need energy for...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics, Derek’s comments in normal font. We've argued on this show several times that the human species has been through a number of inflection points throughout history. It's fairly clear to anyone alive today that we are living through one of those inflection points. Like a wide range of, on the face of it, crazy things happening. We thought we might dedicate an episo...

The Limits to Growth has come under attack in certain quarters, the accusation being that the report is ‘anti-human’ and ‘Malthusian’. On this episode we explore these accusations, and conclude that the principles discussed in the report are as relevant today as they were in 1972. Have a listen and make your mind up for yourself! This conversation underscores the importance of going back to origin...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics, Derek’s comments in normal font. Introduction to Economics Our topic today is economics and an introduction to some of the key people throughout history that have helped develop economics and economic theory, because we think that understanding these people and their thinking helps to understand the world as it is today. So, I think, firstly, let's maybe just st...

Key: Rob’s comments in italics . Derek’s comments in normal font. Back in maybe the first episode, we shared a quote from Martin Luther King, who said that: “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people, but the silence over that by the good people. The time is always right to...

Key: Rob’s comments in italics Derek’s comments in normal font Introduction to BlackRock Our subject today is BlackRock, which is an entity that I have to admit before 2020, I was not aware of. So what is it and what do people need to know? BlackRock is a fund manager, which essentially means that it takes the aggregate investments of a large number of people or a large number of organizations, wh...

Rob’s comments are in italics . Derek’s comments are in normal font. — Today, our topic is, is money the root of all evil? This is something that I think people probably have heard in different forms, maybe from religion. And I wondered if we could pick apart how this still fits into people's psyche today. The first thing to say is that the quote, as it stands, "money is the root of all evil," is...

Key: Rob’s comments are in italics . Derek’s comments in normal font. On last week's call, we did an introduction to micro finances for small businesses and small business owners. We kind of left off the chat by saying, well, as pensions are the main vehicles for building your wealth over your lifetime, it's probably worth knowing how your pension is being invested and maybe having a bit more cont...

Introduction to Financial Statements I think we need to look at the three basic forms of financial statements and what they mean for your business and you personally. Understanding these is essential when considering how to deploy your savings to build a nest egg for the future. This helps provide you with an income in later years and freedom from the necessity of working. The Importance of Unders...