iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Simon Youel

Positive Money UK @positivemoneyuk.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Our Head of Policy & Advocacy @simonyovel.bsky.social sets a few things straight about our proposal to #TaxTheBanks in @thebanker.bsky.social 👇 🧵[1/5] Our windfall tax is specifically designed to avoid harming the UK’s competitiveness as a global financial hub. Based on...

thebanker.com

Letter to the editor: Citi’s Fraser wrong that a bank tax would harm the UK

A windfall levy on UK banks now would mirror Margaret Thatcher’s policy in the 1980s

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

One of Truss's worst legacies is to give the lobby an obsession with small moves in gilt prices.

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Disappointing to see @financialtimes.com publish this PR from the stablecoin industry as an opinion piece rather than sponsored content - they could have at least got some money from it! www.ft.com/content/69cd...

ft.com

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Positive Money UK @positivemoneyuk.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

🚀 NEW report launch 💷 'Taking all the credit' explores how we can safeguard monetary & financial stability against the challenges of the 21st century *and* boost investment in the real economy. [1/7] 🏦 In the UK…

positivemoney.org

Taking all the credit: Future-proofing money and credit policy for the 21st century

Positive Money report explores how we can safeguard monetary & financial stability while facilitating productive investment in the real economy

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

The world energy shock is coming — it will deepen inequality in ways we've seen before. Our new @newstatesman1913.bsky.social piece argues that without urgent government action, the Strait of Hormuz crisis will ripple through our economies and rip apart our societies. Here's why. 1/

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Bit of a brass neck on Reeves here in her Mais lecture. Don't recall her or Labour shouting about the priceless opportunity to invest in the early 2010s - quite the opposite

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

in which, I argue that the digital euro should be seen as primarily an expression of institutional mojo, which is why people don't understand it backofmind.substack.com/p/why-this-w...

backofmind.substack.com

why this, why now, why not?

the digital euro and theories of action

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Positive Money UK @positivemoneyuk.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

"It is very worrying that banks feel able to use their influence to try and dictate elected government policy." Peter Mandelson was not an outlier - Government ministers continue to put the interests of banks above ours. Our Head of Policy and Advocacy, Simon Youel, on Sky News today 👇

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Chris Dillow @chrisdillow.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

I explained here why Stogia is wrong: there's no magic money tree which means finance is more available to the private than public sector, & the constraint on investing is real resources, not the public finances: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/no-magic-m...

chrisdillow.substack.com

No magic money trees

"There's no magic money tree" is an argument against privatization.

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Good that Alistair Darling didn't fall for this, but sad that Rachel Reeves did

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

In any other context, requiring a high-productivity sector to offshore the production of its highest value-added exports would be seen as the economic illiteracy it so obviously is... www.ft.com/content/a23c...

ft.com

UK drops target for international student recruitment

Government to encourage education providers to open campuses overseas as it focuses on reducing migration

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I regret to inform that I have started a blog open.substack.com/pub/simonyov...

open.substack.com

Why?

Introducing this thing.

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Jo Michell @jomichell.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

If this is the case, then publishing this piece is a poor editorial decision to say the least. We should, at a minimum, expect stated financial statistics to be broadly accurate in the Financial Times.

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Carsten Jung @carsjung.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

NEW: UK taxpayers are losing £22 billion every year from losses at the Bank of England - the same as the entire Home Office annual budget. This is the result of a flawed implementation of the BoE's quantitative easing programme. We propose two steps to fix this leak. (1/4)

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Positive Money UK @positivemoneyuk.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

“High interest rates are a form of economic rent and should be kept as low as possible." Our @youellog.bsky.social pushes back on the misguided suggestion that the Bank of England should be setting interest rates well above inflation in @thetimes.com via ‪@georgenixon97.bsky.social bit.ly/3IITWen

thetimes.com

Poor savings rates and inflation wipe 11p off every £1

There are calls for the Bank of England to act to protect our cash from the damaging effects of high inflation

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Josh Ryan-Collins @jryancollins.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

In 2020, Brazil launched Pix, a public digital payment system during Covid. It is now dominant, undercutting credit & debit card providers, reducing transaction costs, enhancing productivity & increasing financial competition. Don't tell me the state can't innovate. www.economist.com/the-americas...

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Excited to have joined the University of Manchester's Law and Technology Initiative as a Visiting Research Fellow Looking forward to building the future of public money with @johnhaskell.bsky.social and the talented fellows I am lucky to be working with www.law-tech.manchester.ac.uk/research/vis...

law-tech.manchester.ac.uk

Visiting Research Fellows | Manchester Law and Technology Initiative | The University of Manchester

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

Struggle to follow this reasoning from the government - do they think cash Isas literally function like cash under the bed? What is stopping banks using Isa funding to invest? Is the government saying they don't trust banks to optimally allocate capital? www.theguardian.com/money/2025/f...

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Jo Michell @jomichell.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

What could possibly go wrong. t.co/se9BwENDAr

Rachel Reeves' quest to kickstart growth in Britain's economy will see her holding talks with leading investment bankers and asset managers this week, the latest in a series of summits with senior financiers.

Sky News has learnt that the chancellor has called in executives from companies including Abrdn, BlackRock, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Schroders on Wednesday morning.

Sources said the meeting was intended to feed ideas into the forthcoming Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy.

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not sure I will ever get over how the government talks so much about the need to reduce 'wasteful' public spending while effectively funneling tens of billions of pounds a year to the banking sector www.bankofengland.co.uk/asset-purcha...

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

At first I wondered what the Bank of England is trying to achieve here...but then I realised that this is their strategy for dealing with inflation - guilting people into cutting back on spending Like the squanderbug for today's boring dystopia www.ladbible.com/news/bank-of...

ladbible.com

Take the BoE quiz now for a chance of winning £1,000

To be in with the chance of winning up to £1,000, take the Bank of England quiz to test your money IQ here.

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Positive Money UK @positivemoneyuk.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

⚡ NEW BLOG ⚡ tldr: financial markets caused temporary turmoil for the government this month, in a move that has likely now triggered public spending cuts, just to make "a quick buck" (but you really should read it 👇) positivemoney.org/update/how-d...

positivemoney.org

How deregulation may have worsened Rachel Reeves’ bond market headache

If Labour wants to win the next election, they may have to depart from the failed orthodoxy that favours free-reigning financial markets coupled with cuts

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Simon Youel @simonyovel.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Allowing hedgefunds to dictate fiscal policy by shorting sovereign debt doesn't strike me as a good idea, but I suppose it's a necessary sacrifice we must make to increase the Competitiveness and Growth of the financial sector, the Crown Jewel Of Our Economy

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Jo Michell @jomichell.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Good example of what is often wrong with journalism about economic issues. The report takes as given the statement “spending cuts is the most economically viable option”. It is far from established fact that, under current circumstances, further cuts are more “economically viable” than tax rises.

In practice, given the significant increase in employers National Insurance rates in October, it would mean spending restraint - Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, practically said as much in the Commons today.
To be clear, spending restraint would not necessarily mean spending cuts, just much lower spending increases than would otherwise happen.
This is where economics could collide with politics fast.
It's all very well for the Treasury to take measures to soothe the bond markets, where government debt is traded.
But just because a strategy is the most economically viable available, that doesn't mean it is politically viable in a Labour Party made up of MPs who have spent the past 14 years decrying Conservative austerity.

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Reposted by Simon Youel

Jo Michell @jomichell.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Indeed. This is only 'bad news' because the central bank is compelled to aim for an arbitrary number that will become ever less feasible as climate effects and geopolitical tensions intensify.

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