By Susie Violet Ward · City A.M. · 3 October 2023
Written as a City A.M. column in October 2023, the piece criticises the UK government’s economic record, beginning with then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s speech on the net zero agenda and the effect of rising interest rates on homeowners and renters. It argues that the economy was flatlining, with the threat of recession, higher mortgage costs and inflation eroding purchasing power, while banks and energy companies reported large profits.
The column also criticises the Online Safety Bill, the expansion of London’s ULEZ under Mayor Sadiq Khan and the Bank of England’s role in inflation, arguing that money printing was left out of public debate. Against this background, it presents bitcoin as decentralised, transparent sound money that is not subject to political decisions, and calls for less government rather than more.