Join John Lanchester to talk about Whoops! - our book of the month - Tues 2 Nov, 8pm

[GeraldineMumsnet]

Hi everyone, Tilly is in outer circles of internet hell so am posting on her behalf.

We've chosen Whoops! by John Lanchester as our October book of the month.

It's highly topical given child benefit cuts and the impending comprehensive spending review (ie even more cuts) because it succinctly and wittily explains why the credit crunch happened and what led to the current dire financial mess.

We're really pleased that John can join us for our next book club discussion on Tues 2 Nov at 8pm.

Whoops! is out now in paperback (a manageable 200 pages). Read more about it and John's other books, plus glittering reviews of Whoops! by many book club authors we've already discussed.

Hope you can join us, should be a great discussion. :)

Could we send them in bulk to the treasury?

LeninGuido: I am all for progressive taxation but must have missed the link between what we are discussing and it.

John,

Thank you for at least giving my question a shot.

I didn't want to discuss other countries because it clouds the issue i.e. the fundamentals of the money system. (I know profits have to be recycled but I don't think they can be held responsible for debt-money system.)

In the long term view people have benefited; but here's a thought.

Abraham Lincoln used non-debt money issued by a democratic government. He fought and won a civil war, industrialised the country, and set the groundwork for a trading superpower. Oh, and no unemployment either.

Perhaps capitalism would work even better under that system?

John,

What are your thoughts on the current UK's government persuing a political agenda to reduce the public sector workforce by nearly 500,000 people, with a resultant additional 600,000 job losses in the private sector, when there are already 2.5 million unemployed and only 0.5 million jobs available?

How is the private sector supposed to compensate for these job losses, and what effect do you think this will have on the economy?

Also, when there are alternatives to the public sector cuts (such as persuing legal tax evasion by corporations and banks), which could negate the need for these job losses and the resultant strain on the benefit system...do you think the current government's tack is intelligent, let alone moral?

www.pcs.org.uk/en/campaigns/campaign-resources/there-is-an-alternative-the-case-against-cuts-in-public-spending.cfm

Thank you for coming on and sorry that I missed the webchat as RL intervened. Your answers are really interesting and I am greatly enjoying your book. Sorry I missed the chat.