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Curated by: Richard J Murphy (21 videos)
In this latest video in my Understanding Economics series, I look at an idea economics has been missing for the last forty years, and it is one of the ideas that matters most: resilience. The big deal is not growth, nor efficiency. It is, instead, the ability to withstand shocks and adapt when things change. Resilience means preparing for hard times while things are still going well. It means knowing what to do when circumstances change, and having the resources ready when you need them. Without it, income and wealth are temporary: they can evaporate within a day or two. For individuals and companies, resilience is largely about money or savings, and access to borrowing. But for a country like the UK, which issues its own currency, money is not the problem. The government can always create it. The real constraint is physical, and is whether we actually have the resources, the spare capacity and the backup systems to solve a crisis when it arrives. That is what "redundancy" means: the spare tyre in the boot, the generator in the hospital, the second water supply. It is keeping extra capacity available even when it feels wasteful in the good times, because that is what keeps things running when something goes wrong. And it is exactly what neoliberal “just-in-time" thinking destroys. Just-in-time is a trick to minimise cost, and it delivers systems that are completely unsustainable. The US has just proved it. It burnt through vast stockpiles of missiles in its fight against Iran, and discovered the lead time for replacement is too long to sustain a war. Governments have to invest in infrastructure, energy, skills and public services, and build in spare capacity before a crisis strikes. Without resilience, an unexpected problem becomes a full-blown crisis: supplies run out, systems fail, companies collapse, and people suffer. Resilience is not a luxury. It is the difference between weathering the storm and being destroyed by it. You can watch the rest of this series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaSguNBvHIto Take a look at today's poll: https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx0z6cDN3aVaY3gjukWy2rIx67X3Iq768F 00:00 Why Economic Resilience Matters 00:48 Economics Must Consider the Future 01:39 The Shocks Every Economy Faces 02:28 What Is Economic Resilience? 03:16 Why Countries Are Different From Households 04:02 Why Economies Need Spare Capacity 04:55 Money Cannot Replace Real Resources 05:43 The Failure of Just-in-Time Thinking 06:28 Building an Economy That Can Survive 06:58 Understanding Economics TRANSCRIPT A transcript for this video is available at: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/06/20/chatgpt-prompt-for-a-letter-to-your-mp/ HOW TO SUPPORT US Please consider donating: https://ko-fi.com/taxresearch ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’. This video was edited by Thomas Murphy. RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurphy.bsky.social OR ON MY BLOG: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/ HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS Subscribe and get notified of new videos released. INTRODUCTION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdHsRPy3060 PLAYLISTS: The Wealth Series https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobQLeyZYAagFDMjEFTKbhRD Ecenomics https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob54Gs-fOL-8OAQ-IpduwB4 Britain https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobwTT4ATvJjsf8OO6S7wD10 Tax https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoaMni_12J6ULp3yUJisUZoY MMT https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoZ6jvRGSW5YXu8qogE6aClX Money https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYnLk1c7syTvoIo8bKYUs5m Climate Change https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgob4_wsYaVivWd2WumpPLYwJ USA https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoYYd3dSyU2Oyl3x7bWJOP7H Labour https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgoa-KhzG-fnjDSg1WROL1zMw The Trump Administration https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRueM6wBgobz41-GLimTho27A3flVWQx #EconomicResilience #Economics #UnderstandingEconomics #UKPolitics #PoliticalEconomy