a must read from Adam Lent at the Kings Fund
This posting from Adam Lent is as relevant for New Zealand as it is for the UK. The numbers are different but the trends are much the same.it really emphasises the urgency of rethinking the basic principles on which we organise our system of government in the way in which we make decisions about how we function as a society. the idea of the low tax back to basics approach is simply untenable if we want a sustainable future. as Adam emphasises, we need a new emphasis with an emphasis on community. The alternative is dire.
The permacrisis is making the public sector unaffordable. That’s the key finding of this hugely significant official report that has been somewhat overshadowed by the Darzi Review. Over coming decades, government spending is set to rise from 45% of GDP to 60%. Government debt from 98% of GDP to over 300%. The cause? A combination of climate change, economic shocks, international conflict, an ageing population, poor population health and persistently weak productivity. It is difficult to overstate the significance of this. It shows that our society, built on consistent economic growth providing reliable tax revenues to fund state-delivered public services is no longer sustainable. The world we have built and come to rely on since at least 1945 is over. It also provides a profound challenge to our current political discourse. As the report makes clear neither economic growth nor higher taxes are realistic, long-term solutions to challenges such as climate change, international conflict and ageing. These are destined to weaken the economy and make us poorer no matter what we do. The right, centre and left of the political spectrum are living in the past. Instead, we need brutal honesty about our new reality but equally, huge creativity about what a new, sustainable and liveable society might look like. From the perspective of public services, I would argue that means a new emphasis on mobilising community assets, mutual aid and a radical shift to prevention in all areas, not just health. But the implications of the trends identified in this report are so profound that we need new thinking and practice in every area of life well beyond the realm of state action. Currently, that is happening only at the margins. It needs to become mainstream rapidly. hashtag#Climatechange hashtag#publicservices hashtag#nhs hashtag#permacrisis hashtag#tax hashtag#ukpolitics Rupert Read Jonathan Rowson Jon Alexander Matthew Skinner Suzie Bailey Jo Vigor Climate Majority Project
Recommended by LinkedIn