The UK savings system is dominated by ISAs and pensions. Together, they account for most personal savings. But are they delivering what the country needs?

In this video, I argue that they are not. ISAs receive generous tax relief. Pensions receive even more. Yet the result is not the investment in productive capacity that economic theory says savings should deliver. Instead, much of the benefit goes to the City of London, while savers often get disappointing returns and society gets too little investment.

The real purpose of saving should be capital formation: building the assets, skills, infrastructure, public services and ecological systems that make life better. That is not what our current savings system is doing.

I suggest that the government should offer new, safe savings products through National Savings and Investments. These could be linked to real social purposes: health, housing, education, green investment, regional development and long-term public need.

This would not be about clever marketing. It would require real accountability, with savers told how their money had been used.

Savings should not just preserve private wealth. They should help create public value.

Nigel Farage has resigned as the MP for Clacton-on-Sea, only to trigger a by-election in which he intends to stand again.

Why?

In this video, I examine what appears to be an extraordinary political manoeuvre and ask whether it is really about democracy, accountability or something quite different.

I argue that this is an unnecessary election which will cost taxpayers money while doing nothing to change Farage’s status as the sitting MP. Instead, I suggest it is an attempt to appeal directly to voters while an investigation into his previous election campaign continues.

I also look at Farage’s claim that he has become the victim of media persecution. Is that true, or is this an example of what psychologists describe as DARVO — deny, attack and reverse victim and offender? I explain what that means and why I think it matters.

So, will the voters of Clacton accept this strategy or will they conclude that they are being asked to take part in an election that simply never needed to happen?

As always, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts in the comments.

The media thinks government debt will cause the next financial crash.

I think they’re looking in entirely the wrong place.

The UK government cannot run out of pounds to repay debt denominated in pounds, so government debt is not where I believe the real systemic risk now lies. Instead, I think the danger has been quietly building in US stock markets, where global investor concentration is now higher than at any point in modern history.

Foreign investors now own around $22 trillion of US shares. Pension funds, insurance companies and investment funds across the world have become increasingly dependent upon rising American stock prices. The AI boom has accelerated this trend, drawing ever more money into a relatively small number of companies and creating a level of concentration that should concern us all.

If those markets suffer a major correction, the consequences will not be confined to the United States. The effects could spread rapidly through pension funds, household savings, and banks and financial institutions around the world, including here in the UK.

In this video I explain:

• why government debt is not the financial threat many people imagine
• where I think the real systemic financial risk now lies
• why US stock markets have become so dominant
• how AI investment has fuelled an unprecedented concentration of capital
• why UK pension funds are much more exposed than many people realise
• why the next financial crisis, if it comes, is likely to look very different from 2008
• what this could mean for your savings, your pension and the wider economy.

Whether you agree with my analysis or not, these are risks that deserve far more attention than they are currently receiving.

Where do you think the next financial crash will come from? Let me know in the comments below.