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Andy Verity
@andyverity
‘A man with no eyebrows telling you the emperor has no clothes’. Author of 'Rigged'. BBC economics + investigation. Bust myths. Expose cover-ups. Listen.
London
Joined March 2011
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  • Pinned
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    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Sep 6, 2023
    My book Rigged, exposing an establishment cover-up at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic followed by a whole series of miscarriages of justice, has already sold out its initial print run and been reprinted in the UK. Now it's being published in the United States:
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    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Oct 31, 2022
    Is it responsible politics to describe 40,000 people crossing the channel in the year to date as ‘an invasion’ of southern England? It’s worth remembering that in normal times about 130,000 British-born people leave the country - every 3 months. I wonder where they are invading…
  • user avatar
    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Sep 26, 2022
    Mortgage lenders are pulling deals because the cost of borrowing over 2 or 5 years has shot up so fast along with gilt yields. That’s happening regardless of attempts at calming by BoE. I can’t remember seeing that before - and I’ve been reporting financial markets for 27 years.
  • user avatar
    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    May 23, 2022
    The estate agency Savills just put out the following research finding: 'The average house price was just under £2,000 when the Queen ascended to the throne in February 1952 – the equivalent of just £56,000 in today’s money'.
  • user avatar
    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Nov 7, 2022
    For all those talking as if the government has no alternative but to ‘balance the books’, here’s a question. In how many years in the last half a century would you say the government’s budget has been in surplus? Answer: six. Did you know this before you decided it was crucial?
  • user avatar
    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Apr 25, 2023
    Before we accept it when we're told the government 'can't afford' something that might be to the public good we should remind ourselves of facts like the following from the Office for National Statistics this morning:
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  • user avatar
    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Mar 1, 2021
    I've just got figures for how much of the money borrowed by the government since April (by issuing IOU notes - also known as government bonds or gilts) now has the Bank of England as creditor (which created the money to do so from nothing). /1
  • user avatar
    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Mar 6, 2024
    At the BBC we've had a whole independent review which made it very clear we shouldn't use profoundly misleading household finance analogies for the public finances. But now the Labour front bench keeps doing it. And it's not the first time:
    user avatar
    j
    @jrc1921
    Mar 6, 2024
    Labour's Darren Jones states that his party is committed to austerity as the Tories 'have spent all the money and maxed out the country's credit card'
    00:00
    Why is Labour still using the self-defeating, discredited ‘maxed out credit card’ analogy? | Yanis...
    From theguardian.com
    263K
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    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Oct 15, 2022
    There's a danger in what happened in the past three weeks since the mini-budget. That is that in the coming years, Chancellors of whatever stripe run scared of the bond markets, thinking they'll tolerate nothing other than 'balancing the books.'
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    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Oct 19, 2024
    The thing about raising taxes by freezing thresholds is it's regressive - ie it hits low-paid workers hardest - especially those earning a few thousand more than the £12,500 threshold. It's the opposite of 'those with the biggest shoulders'.
    Rachel Reeves looks to keep ‘stealth tax’ freeze on thresholds 
    From ft.com
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    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Jul 12, 2023
    Here's a startling passage from the Bank of England's financial stability report that somehow didn't make it into the summary - which is all that many journalists read, all about buytolet mortgages. Around 2.1 million renters live in homes with buytolet mortgages on them:
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    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Mar 13, 2025
    Are we a 'high welfare' country where we pay people too much not to work, meaning the government could save billions by slashing welfare, no harm done? Erm - not exactly. This chart compares us with other countries. Of 34 advanced economies, we're 3rd from the bottom.
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    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Nov 10, 2022
    Q: When is a black hole not real? A: when it disappears at the stroke of an economic forecaster’s pen.
    Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt and the Conservative Cabinet
    Economists question 'black hole' in UK finances
    From bbc.co.uk
  • user avatar
    Andy Verity
    @andyverity
    Jun 17, 2023
    If you only read one bit of news this weekend, make it this one - on the front page of the BBC’s website. In my whole career I have never come across a personal story as extraordinary - and shocking - as that of former Barclays trader Peter Johnson:
    Peter Johnson
    Whistleblowing banker who went to prison speaks out
    From bbc.co.uk
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