One does not have to search for long in the archives of Financial Regulation Matters to find criticism of the Conservative Government. Whether the focus is on the increase in food banks , tax avoidance , elitism , siding with business over the public , or a level of privatisation that is forcing the U.K. into a corner it will struggle to get out from, there has been no shortage of criticism. However, the first thing to note is that today’s post is not, nor the blog moreover, pro-Labour (or, in fact, any political party); Labour are simply just as culpable as their Conservative brethren. To demonstrate this point, today’s post, the first of two, will look at the recent ‘landmark study’ that suggested the Conservative Party’s austerity measures have caused upwards of 120,000 deaths, unnecessarily, since embarking upon this attempt to recoup the losses caused by the financial sector; yet, the analysis will do so from within the parameters of the need to understand economic cycles. ...

Today’s post reacts to the news that next week, in the UK, workers will make history by staging a strike at two McDonald’s restaurants – one in London and one in Cambridge. The first strike of its kind in McDonald’s British history is a result of poor working conditions, the use of the infamous ‘zero-hour’ contracts, and a demand for an increase in the minimum wage paid to McDonald’s employees. In this post this particular story will be used a vehicle to cover an aspect that has almost become accepted in the mainstream media, unfortunately, and that is the concept of austerity and its repulsive effects. Whilst onlookers hope that the strike will see a revolution-of-sorts amongst the fast-food industry with regards to working conditions, the reality it is that the underlying causes of the grievances aired by the staff will remain whatever the outcome of the strike, as the problem is a systemic problem. The proposed strike, which is scheduled to take place on Monday 4 th Septembe...