Macrodose How Wall St. Gambles on Your Future w/ Ann Pettifor
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Jan 29, 2026 Ann Pettifor, international political economist and author of The Global Casino, explains money as a social credit and critiques how finance shapes policy. She tackles central bank capture, the myth of bond vigilantes, shadow banking and commodity speculation. She outlines tools like capital controls and regional payment systems to curb finance’s power and protect public investment and the planet.
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Money Is Credit, Not A Commodity
- Money is a social construct: credit equals money and functions as a promise to pay backed by law and institutions.
- Ann Pettifor argues understanding money as credit demystifies monetary power and exposes regulatory choices that shape value.
Scarcity Is A Political Story
- Treating money as a scarce commodity lets elites claim "we can't afford" public goods while restricting action.
- Pettifor links commodity thinking to tools like Bitcoin and to political uses of manufactured scarcity.
Use Public Investment To Grow Repayment Capacity
- Invest in labour-intensive, income-generating projects to grow tax revenues and repay public borrowing.
- Use public investment (housing retrofit, flood defenses) to reduce deficits by expanding the tax base.
