‘Corbynomics’, aka Jeremy Corbyn’s plans for the UK economy, has entered the Westminster lexicon today. It appears to consist of the work primarily of one man, Richard Murphy. The director of TaxResearch UK, who advises various charities and trade unions on tax matters, has taken credit for the handful of economic policies Corbyn has announced so far, which have been attacked by Labour’s shadow chancellor Chris Leslie today.
Jeremy Corbyn has acknowledged that I am the author of much of his economic policy. Not a single journalist has called me about it
— Richard Murphy (@RichardJMurphy) August 3, 2015
In case you missed the birth of Corbynomics two weeks ago — the launch event was closed to the media — here is a summary of what we know so far. The details of these proposals have come from Murphy’s blog and Corbyn’s pamphlet:
1. Quantitative easing for people
This is essentially letting the Bank of England print money, which would be used for investment into public services — something Leslie thinks would lead to high levels of inflation:
‘One option would be for the Bank of England to be given a new mandate to upgrade our economy to invest in new large scale housing, energy, transport and digital projects: Quantitative easing for people instead of banks.
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