Andy Burnham has declared that back in the day, the UK took a wrong turn. He now says that his new government marks a turning point: he will break with neoliberalism.
He will build houses, bring down inflation, create economic growth; he may even address the climate crisis that is upon us. The effects of neoliberalism are here for all to see; but you can’t break with it if you don’t understand what it is.
In the next breath, the Government says it will stick with Rachel Reeves’ strict fiscal rules. It must be fiscally responsible. These fiscal rules are neoliberalism. And so is the mantra: you’ve got to say where you’ll find the money.
The Money Sham addresses head-on the whole UK political-economic narrative, from the time of Newton, through the last century and up to the present day. It debunks economic myths one by one, in language that is clear to understand.
A government should not stick to a fiscal straitjacket; a government can control the bond markets; a government can afford and implement a Green New Deal; it can reverse ever-rising inequality. It can rebuild the health service, the housing stock and the national infrastructure. It can control inflation. The book concludes with a new economic paradigm and seven transformative policies.
But first, a government must understand what money is. Only then can it start to deliver on its promises. The website Real Resource Economics is home to the Money Sham.
Available from Waterstones, and online.
“The Money Sham is a sharp, accessible, and genuinely important contribution to our understanding of money and the monetary system. Laughton has done the hard work of synthesizing some of the most rigorous heterodox thinking available and translating it into something that will open eyes and, hopefully, change minds.”
Stephanie Kelton
“We all need to know how the monetary and production systems of our economy work, because conventional economists have filled our heads with nonsense ideas. Stephen Laughton explains the real basics of money and production in language that any reader can understand. Throw those delusional textbooks away and read this.”
Steve Keen.
“Kudos to Steve Laughton for this eminently readable and genuinely helpful new book. He rightly draws attention away from government debt and toward private sector debt, which when used in excess, is the true culprit in financial crises. This succinct overview of macroeconomics will be a useful guide for those new to economic theory, and will provide invaluable clarification to even veteran economic analysts.”
July 2025 Richard Vague – American economist, author, venture capitalist, formerly Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Banking and Securities.