Aaron Bastani debates AWL on Brexit, Sat 23 June, Birkbeck, London

[jondwhite]

Aaron Bastani of Novara Media is debating Workers Liberty (Trotskyists) this Saturday at Birkbeck, London.

The topic is 'Can the labour movement stop Brexit? Should it?'

https://www.workersliberty.org/ideas

[ALB]

He is the person who once talked about "fully-automated luxury communism", isn't he?  After hearing him talk on this on the radio we contacted him to see if he'd be interested in doing a talk on this (he had mentioned the abolition of the wages system) but he didn't reply. I think he's been all over the place politically, Green Party, Labour Party, and still is, a Brexshiteer and now for Remain (with British capitalism as it is):https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/aaron-bastani/why-ive-changed-my-mind-on-brexit

[jondwhite]

I think he was an early coiner of the phrase 'fully automated luxury communism'http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/fully-automated-luxury-gay-space-communism

[jondwhite]

Bastani no-showedhttps://www.workersliberty.org/story/2018-07-04/bastani-time-answerthey did debate Positive Moneyhttps://www.workersliberty.org/story/2018-07-04/nationalising-moneyAnother report from them of their eventhttps://www.workersliberty.org/story/2018-07-04/socialism-makes-sense-ideas-freedom-2018-report

[ALB]

jondwhite wrote:

Bastani no-showedhttps://www.workersliberty.org/story/2018-07-04/bastani-time-answerthey did debate Positive Money

Oh dear. Their understanding of money and banking seems as ignorant as Positive Money's:

Quote:

Today, however, only a small proportion of money, about 3% in Britain, is notes and coins created by public authorities. The other 97% of so is balances with banks, effectively tradable debt. That 97% is created by banks.Imagine Iris has £1000 in cash. She will keep only £10 on her, and put the rest in the bank. The bank does not just sit on the £990. While Iris still has £990, Mya will also have £990 when the bank gives her a mortgage to buy a house from Helen, and that £990 then reappears as new bank-balance money held by Helen.The bank then gives out £900-odd again as an overdraft to Aniqa. Aniqa banks or spends that money, and then a bank uses it to make a loan to Lara…Already there is almost £4000 in circulation. The banks have to keep something in the vaults — it used to be a “reserve requirement”, today more usually a “capital requirement” — to be able to pay out when one person or another decides to cash out her whole bank balance. But that stash in the vaults need only be a small proportion of the total stock of money in circulation.

No, there is not almost £4000 in circulation. It's just that £990 has circulated 4 times, being used to make payments of almost £4000. That's what money does. It circulates. Banks facilitate this, not create new money (see long-running thread on this).

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