Funding the Future

Markets are not natural, spontaneous or free. They are legal, institutional and political creations of the state. Without law, money, regulation, wages, accounting standards and trust, markets collapse into monopoly, coercion and extraction. In this New Year’s Day video, I explain why the neoliberal myth of “free markets” is not just wrong, but actively destructive — and why rebuilding the state, rethinking capital and restoring democratic accountability must define our economic direction for 2026. Markets are tools. It's up to society to set their purpose.  

2025 has been an extraordinary year for this channel. 30 million views. Hundreds of thousands of new subscribers. And, more importantly, a growing appetite for something better than the economics and politics we are offered today. In this video, I pause to reflect on what we’ve learned—and, crucially, how that shapes what comes next. I explain why an economics of care matters, why poverty and climate breakdown are choices rather than inevitabilities, and how a better understanding of money, tax and the role of the state can change what is politically possible. I also set out how this channel and the Funding the Future blog will evolve in 2026, including more explanatory material, new short-form content, and ways you can help shape what we do next. If you want an economy that works for life rather than extraction, this is an invitation to join that journey.

2025 was a disastrous year — economically, politically and morally. But the consequences of that failure are only just beginning to arrive. In this video, I ask a simple but uncomfortable question: who is going to pay the price in 2026? Austerity by design is still with us. Fiscal rules are still being used to override human need. Markets are still prioritised over care. And the result is that credibility is draining from politics across the UK and beyond. I look at who is likely to fall from power — in the UK, in the US, and internationally — and why neoliberal authority is finally collapsing under the weight of its own failures. I also ask whether anyone might emerge with a credible alternative, and what that would require in economic terms. 2026 will not be an easy year. But it may be the year when technocratic politics finally runs out of road. What do you think? Is 2026 the year when politics is forced to change? Vote in the poll below and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Light is often treated as something sentimental at Christmas. That is a mistake. Light is not decoration. It is understanding, care, energy and life itself. In this final talk in my Christmas series on light, I draw together the ideas explored over the past few days to argue that light is a public good — one that modern economics routinely ignores. When societies withdraw energy, time and care from people and institutions, decay follows. Austerity is not efficiency. It is the systematic removal of light from systems that need constant maintenance to survive. I explain why ignorance is dangerous, why confusion benefits power, and why economic myths persist when they are left deliberately in the dark. I also explore how modern capitalism steals light in subtler ways: through long hours, artificial rhythms, permanent urgency, and the denial of rest, daylight and recovery, all of which damage health, wellbeing and social cohesion. This is not a religious argument. It is a reflection rooted in economics, care and the shared insights of many wisdom traditions that recognise vulnerability, dependence and mutual responsibility. Light appears where people care for one another, and choosing care is choosing light. This talk asks a simple but urgent question: will we design our economy and our society to keep the lights on, or will we continue to accept neglect, exhaustion and decay as normal?

Burnout is not a personal failure. It is the result of an economic system that steals time, daylight and energy from our lives. In this fifth video in my Christmas series on light, I explore the relationship between light, healing and health — and why modern work patterns deny people access to the very conditions they need to recover and thrive. Light regulates sleep, hormones, mood and immunity. Yet long hours, commuting, shift work and poor housing mean many people barely see daylight at all. Artificial light cannot replace what we lose. This is not accidental. It is structural. Productivity is prioritised over health, time over care, and people are blamed when they break. Light is a public good. Time should not be a privilege. A society that denies people light cannot be surprised when they struggle to heal.

Everything tends towards decay unless energy is applied. That is not ideology – it is physics. In this Christmas lecture, I explore light through the lens of entropy and explain why care, maintenance, and public services are not optional extras but survival mechanisms. Austerity withdraws energy from our systems. Neoliberalism assumes self-maintenance. Both are wrong. If we want societies to endure, we must invest in care – because entropy never rests.

Every economy runs on light. That is not a metaphor – it is physics. Without light, there is no life. Without life, there is no labour. Without labour, there is no economy. Yet modern economics behaves as if energy, health, and human limits do not matter. In this Boxing Day video – part three of my Christmas series on light – I explain why labour is transformed solar energy, why burnout is an energy failure, why infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible, and why fossil fuel capitalism is about power, not necessity. Light reconnects economics to life itself – and forces us to rethink wealth, growth, and what an economy is actually for.

At Christmas, cultures across the world speak of light returning. This is not theology or astronomy. It is about survival, hope, and responsibility in hard times. In this video, I explore how wisdom traditions — Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic, and Indigenous — understand light as care, presence, and justice. And why modern capitalism inverts that meaning, treating wealth as light and poverty as darkness. This is the Christmas story without preaching — and with a question we cannot avoid as 2026 approaches: who do we illuminate, and who do we leave unseen?

This is the first in a six-video Christmas series exploring light not just as a festival symbol but as a political and economic necessity. Light has always meant understanding, truth, and freedom. Darkness, by contrast, protects power and privilege. In this video, I explore why learning is never neutral, why ignorance is often designed, and why economics that cannot be explained cannot be trusted. If democracy requires informed consent, then light is not optional; it is essential. This channel exists to shed light on political economy. At Christmas, that feels like exactly the right place to begin.

As Christmas approaches, many people ask what they want. But there is a more important question we should be asking: what did we need – and not get? In this video, I look at the UK’s real economic failures over the last year: persistent poverty housing insecurity untreated illness a hidden personal debt crisis rising political hostility These are not marginal problems. They are systemic failures of economic policy and political courage. I also set out what we actually need: poverty reduction as a national objective, secure housing, investment in care, fair taxation, and politicians willing to stop fearing bond markets and start acting in the public interest. This is not about pessimism. It is about honesty – and hope. Because if Christmas means anything, it must mean that change is still possible.