BNP and the Red Economy

Lee Barnes a leading BNP member has recently penned an article called the BNP and the Creative Economy. http://bnp.org.uk/2009/12/the-bnp-and-the-creative-economy/. In the article he comments approvingly on a report from the New Economics Foundation which argues that the British economy should not be governed by the laws of free market economics but rather by what he terms the social value of work i.e. the state should penalise financial occupations like accountants and reward low paid caring occupations like Child Care Workers.

Though the article states this is not policy, but merely a talking point. The fact that a leading member would be allowed to pen such an article certainly reflects what the BNP leadership is thinking about, that the free market is Bad and Government intervention is good. The major problem is that the British economy is not a genuine free market, but rather a highly cartelised and regulated corporate economy which receives massive subsidies from the state and protectionism in the form of intellectual and copyright law.

The accountant will be paid more than a child care worker because of the simple laws of supply and demand. There are fewer individuals possessing accountancy skills than there are individuals who would be able to look after a child. Now this pay differential is massively distorted by regulations which errect entry barriers to the accountacy trade in form of mandating credentials. Corporate CEO's similarily are allowed to get away with their massive wages, which are in effect a rent on the labour surplus provided by the Corporate employees, only because our heavily regulated corporate economy crowds out more efficent smaller buisnesses.

Lee Barnes searching amonst New Leftist publications for ideas suggests that the BNP is bereft of its own ideas. Ever since the New BNP emerged under Nick Griffin it has considered ideas in so far as they are easily marketable to an electorate. Nick Griffins dismal performance on Question Time a few months ago was partly as a result of the intellectual incoherence of the BNP's populist strategy.