Thread by @swardley

X : Boris blaming business.
Me : And?
X : What do you think?
Me : Smart but surprising from a conservative PM. Forcing companies to pay more reasonable wages i.e. Tesco bumper profits - stockmarketwire.com/article/721798… and Tesco staff reject "pay cut" offer - sharecast.com/news/news-and-…

X : Won't it lead to inflation, stock price drops?
Me : Sure, some execs will try to pass costs on to consumers and keep the share price up with bumper divs and share buybacks. It's in their own self interest but that'll play into Boris' narrative of greedy bosses ...

... somebody seems to have told Boris that the fastest way to grow the economy is to convert it from an extractive nature (benefits to shareholders, accumulation) to a more generative / growth model (putting more wealth into the hands of people who will actually spend it).

X : What about universal credit cut?
Me : Well, that just doesn't make sense and seems heartless. However, bosses with bumper profits and bonuses offering paltry staff increases, super wealthy dodging taxes ... it's going to stoke anger, reinforce a narrative of greedy bosses.

X : What next?
Me : Uncharted territory. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Boris creates a wealth tax ... that's how out of norms this situation is.
X : This is all brexit?
Me : What? No. Brexit is just the catalyst for exposing some underlying conditions.

X : What about the predictions?
Me : Are you talking supply chain impacts? I didn't make any specific predictions other than there would be impacts because we didn't understand our supply chains.
X : Not yours, I mean others.
Me : As usual they vary from the sensible to the daft.

X : Daft?
Me : Varied from the end of Western civilisation, instant recession for several years, massive growth in unemployment, mass exodus from London, no medicines to things like massive growth or no impact. It all depends upon who you talked to and what their interest was.

X : Sensible?
Me : Well, I like to think the sensible ones were more along the lines that there would be some supply chain impacts. You heard that from both sides of the debate. There was just different emphasis on the future direction.

X : But ...
Me : ... I took a group of brexiteers and remainers in a room and got them to talk through the use of a map. If you stick with narrative I can tell you that brexiteers will argue that remainers predicted "end of UK, mass unemployment, no medicines ...

... destruction of society, gangs on the streets" whilst remainers will argue that brexiteers predicted "instant growth, mass wealth generation, billions to be spent on internal economy, new trade deals" etc. You can't explore these issues with narrative because ...

... narrative requires a story teller and story tellers like to be right.

X : So, you think brexit was right?
Me : It was a choice. Making it has certainly exposed underlying problems that were being ignored and probably would have continued to be ignored if the choice hadn't been made. It has also created its own problems. Choices do that.

X : So, positive?
Me : I wouldn't say this has been positive as much as necessary. I certainly would have preferred to have been doing this with Corbyn in charge but that was another choice that people decided not to make. C'est la vie.

X : Would Corbyn have gone after the bosses?
Me : Oh yes, same as Boris. The differences would have been more on universal credit, support for the poorest, speed of nationalisation of critical key supply chains etc. But Boris' narrative here is very Corbyn like.

X : But what about the whole "Christmas could be cancelled" thing.
Me : It tells me that you haven't spent much time with people who are really struggling / living with poverty. By "Christmas cancelled", I think you mean "Christmas like all those people we've been ignoring have".

We have 14 million people living in poverty in the UK and many millions are in destitution. Don't forget that whilst you're out advance booking your christmas tree or wines or whatever because you're concerned about "Christmas being cancelled".

X : That was said with venom.
Me : I spent a year living in a condition where I regularly had to choose whether I would heat my bedsit or eat ... so yes, I'm horrified by the £20 cut but I'm also horrified by how quickly we forget and ignore the plight of so many.

X : I'm guessing that was pre brexit?
Me : Oh yes. These problems are not new. Brexit is just the catalyst that exposed it. We should use this opportunity to put our society on a better footing. That's what Corbyn was aiming for. To some extent, there's a bit of this with Boris.

X : Boris' speech? Thoughts?
Me : He claims to want to shift the economy from its capital extractive (and accumulative) model to a more generative (and distributed) one through higher wages. A positive step, bits were one nation ... I just struggle to believe him.

X : Why?
Me : The talk is good but that's talk. What matters is action. He talks about levelling up but at the same time allows £20 to be cut from the most vulnerable. Boris makes the promises of Corbyn but delivers the hard cuts of Osborne.

X : Suggestions?
Me : For Boris? Beyond integrity? Why?
X : Curious
Me : If you want to shift the economy from an extractive to generative then you're going to need :-
1) A universal basic income
2) A new set of behaviours which value something other than wealth accumulation.

i.e. you're going to need the whole Me vs We discussion which we haven't even started. Your best bet is to follow China, they are much further along and more advanced in this path.