Nigel Farage, generally considered to be to the Right of the Conservative Party, is advocating expansionist Bank of England policies, and "maximum employment".
Alex Hern of the New Statesman has spotted something interesting in a piece by Nigel Farage for London’s City A.M this week.
Farage, generally considered to be to the Right of the Conservative Party, is advocating expansionist Bank of England policies.
Farage writes:
The mandate of the Bank has been focused on avoiding a repeat of the last crisis, instead of addressing the root of the problem we face today. Its negative focus on fighting inflation is put to shame by the positive objectives of the US Federal Reserve’s dual mandate that it “shall maintain long-run growth of the monetary and credit aggregates, commensurate with the economy’s long-run potential to increase production, so as to promote effectively the goals of maximum employment, stable prices and moderate long-term interest rates.” That is the language of Ukip economics – maximum employment, growth, and a positive outlook.
Maximum employment?! Quite.
As Hern puts it, “the move is quite some way from the usual populism of the Ukip manifesto”.
Today’s City A.M postbag contains several letters from less than impressed readers in response to Farage’s article:
Farage is clearly just another spendaholic politician who doesn’t give two hoots about future generations, who’ll have to pay for his monetary and fiscal experiments.
And another:
I’m a great fan of Nigel Farage, but he needs a better economic adviser.
Mark Carney, who will replace Sir Mervyn King as governor of the Bank of England next year, said in December that if a central bank were to set its monetary policy based on both inflation and growth, rather than solely inflation, it “could in many respects be more powerful” in helping to boost an economy.
But George Osborne said inflation-targeting had served the UK well and “provided stability”.
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6 Responses to “Red Farage adopts Left economics”
Mr. Sensible
Not sure we can say Farage is learching left; Osborne seems perminantly reliant on monitary policy to prop up his failing fiscal policy.
Newsbot9
Indeed, this just shows Farage isn’t an idiot. He is, after all, a businessman and most of business can see the problems with Plan A.
Ben
Farage is not left leaning in any sense. When he’s talking about maximum employment he’s not meaning through active fiscal or industrial policy. He thinks the state shouldn’t much beyond law and order and that even the Tories are a ‘social democratic’ party.
He’s not coherent and is fully of reactionary nonsense designed to appeal to base instincts.
JC
If you actually read the UKIP policies (obviously apart from the bits about leaving the EU) you’ll find that they are to the centre left and not to the right of the conservative party. Common knowledge that they are right wing is not apparent here.
Noel Matthews Ukip Ppc
His top economic adviser is Professor Tim Congdon. Goodle him.