1. summit is asking Gordon Brown: "Will you place on the G20 agenda the proposals by James Robertson (www.jamesrobertson.com) for monetary reform? In short: - why doesn't the government take over the exclusive power to create new money..." Show more »"Will you place on the G20 agenda the proposals by James Robertson (www.jamesrobertson.com) for monetary reform? In short:
   - why doesn't the government take over the exclusive power to create new money (by issuing it into society interest-free)?
   - why don't we remove this power from the banks (who currently create new money as debt), and limit their activities to taking deposits and making loans based on those deposits (with strict liquidity ratios)?
   - why not create a new  international currency to replace the current international trade reliance on, and battles with, the U.S. dollar?" Show less »
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: Politics   |   Email to friends   |   Feb 22 2009 5:19:50 PM   |

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1. TimJames is asking Gordon Brown: "You've warned against protectionsim but how is that possible in democracies? If the people think the best way to protect ..." Show more »"You've warned against protectionsim but how is that possible in democracies? If the people think the best way to protect jobs and businesses is through protectionism, then don't you and other leaders have a duty to give them what they want? I know you might be right but it's a dilemma, isn't it?" Show less »
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: Politics   |   Email to friends   |   Jan 30 2009 11:08:16 AM   |

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1. keithwhu is asking Gordon Brown: "This question is being asked by igoralcyon: Could it be theoretically possible to create a statistical tool that will establish the number of casualties caused by modern capitalism as a political system..." Show more »"This question is being asked by igoralcyon:
   
   Could it be theoretically possible to create a statistical tool that will establish the number of casualties caused by modern capitalism as a political system as it has been roughly done for totalitarian communism ?
   Or more precisely, could it be theoretically possible to establish the number of casualties that could have been avoided if the best solutions had been implemented toward, for example, the trade of weapons and the international management of world common goods since, say, 1945 ?" Show less »
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: Politics   |   Email to friends   |   Mar 06 2009 9:29:37 AM   |

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1. Sadbog74 is asking Gordon Brown: "It is fantastic that an opportunity and popular interest for genuine global unity, particularly global financial institutions, is beginning to arise. My qualm is that we have to ensure that any global..." Show more »"It is fantastic that an opportunity and popular interest for genuine global unity, particularly global financial institutions, is beginning to arise. My qualm is that we have to ensure that any global institutions created, are truly democratic, and create an equal voice for every nation in the world. These institutions must be governed by democracy, not economic ideology or orthodoxy, if they are to be truly pragmatic and successful in running the global economy for all nations well. Current global institutions such as the IMF and World Bank are not democratic, and thus dont meet the needs of a changing dynamic world. They are governed by laissez-faire orthodoxy, if they were democratic,they would be governed by the common good of the world and thus be dynamic and pragmatic in their policy making. But we need more than just a global welfare system to help countries economies once they've collapse. We need a democratic global financial institution that helps prevent countries from getting into economic jeopardy in the first place. And this is also an opportunity to create democratic global institutions to deal with climate change, poverty and all other international problems, like you say. Angela Merkel suggests creating a U.N. economic council, like the existing partly democratic U.N. security council. What ever global institutions get created, they must be genuinely democratic, so that every member state has an equal vote and voice, in order for these global institutions to serve the interests of individual nations and the entire world." Show less »
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: Politics   |   Email to friends   |   Jan 30 2009 5:38:04 PM   |

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1. shadsy is asking Gordon Brown: "I would like to know why single mums are encouraged to stay at home to raise their children but mums with partners/husbands are given no help to stay at home and bring up their children and often have..." Show more »"I would like to know why single mums are encouraged to stay at home to raise their children but mums with partners/husbands are given no help to stay at home and bring up their children and often have no choice but to go back to work?" Show less »
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3. 5 comments   |  Topic: Politics   |   Email to friends   |   Feb 24 2009 6:08:27 PM   |

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1. shazkl is asking Gordon Brown: "Could you explain to me where all the money is coming from whixh you are pumping into the economy if we already have a huge national debt? Many Thanks."
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: World Affairs   |   Email to friends   |   Jan 30 2009 10:49:42 AM   |

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1. Claire is asking Gordon Brown: "Hello Gordon Surely this crisis isn't just about banks and whether they lend money. Surely it's also that we're used to buying things on credit and perhaps spending money we haven't got. Now things have..." Show more »"Hello Gordon
   Surely this crisis isn't just about banks and whether they lend money. Surely it's also that we're used to buying things on credit and perhaps spending money we haven't got. Now things have gone wrong I see all the problems - friends who've lost jobs and prices of things going up... and can't think of any solutions.
   Is there anything that mums like me can do to make a difference?? Something that doesn't involve spending momey I've not got!" Show less »
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: World Affairs   |   Email to friends   |   Feb 02 2009 3:38:24 PM   |

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1. LondonTowner is asking Gordon Brown: "Most people thought the financial system was functioning well until last year- is it possible that other systems, like the EU system of mobility of labour might also turn out to be flawed?"
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: Politics   |   Email to friends   |   Feb 01 2009 11:31:55 PM   |

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1. Sadbog74 is asking Gordon Brown: "How can we ensure Obama's administration doesn't retreat into protectionism? The argument should be that there are 2 options: 1) Retreating into protectionism, making the recession worse for Americans..." Show more »"How can we ensure Obama's administration doesn't retreat into protectionism? The argument should be that there are 2 options: 1) Retreating into protectionism, making the recession worse for Americans and the world by destroying the wealth created by global trade and global markets. Eventually when the American economy starts to grow again, Re-globalization will occur, recreating the chaotic problems of today's unregulated global trade, leading to another global financial crisis in 10 or 15 years time. 2) Rising to the challenge of creating a Global Democratic Economic Regulatory institution, allowing for the continuation of globalization and wealth creation and jobs, and importantly, economic stability that will come from global regulation, and greatly reducing the chances of a future global financial crisis. These institutions could potentially allow for wealth redistribution, meaning common money could be used to invest in and develop the economies of LEDC's, which would be beneficiary to MEDC's as world GDP would increase and world market's would grow in size and wealth creation, thus spreading wealth into MEDC's. We can synthesize the interests of individual nations and the collective global community to serve them both better, if we create a democratic global economic institution." Show less »
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: World Affairs   |   Email to friends   |   Feb 03 2009 11:30:22 AM   |

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1. mariealms is asking Gordon Brown: "I would like to know why the issues both financial and moral affecting full time mums are never addressed by politicians? There are a lot of parents including myself and my husband who firmly believe ..." Show more »"I would like to know why the issues both financial and moral affecting full time mums are never addressed by politicians? There are a lot of parents including myself and my husband who firmly believe that the best start we can give our children is for one of the parents to stay at home and look after them. After all, no matter how well intentioned and competent staff in child care facilities may be, is no substitute for the emotional bond that exists between parents and their children. Surely there is nothing  more important than to give the future generation a good, stable and secure start in life. As well as making happy individuals, I believe it would help to reduce many of the problems we are seeing today, whether it is young people suffering from stress and depression or rising levels of violent crime.
   
   Financially, it is not easy these days to have one parent at home and live on one income, however, as parents we are prepared to make sacrifices, is that not what being a parent is all about? It seems to me that there is very little support from the government (and I do not just mean financial support) for parents who want to bring their children up at home. It is expected that as a mother you should go back to work and if you don't, often you are made to feel that you are doing the wrong thing. You certainly get no financial support for doing so.  I think that as a nation we are going morally wrong by encouraging both parents to work and children into childcare. At a time of financial crisis we should be focussing on doing things properly and supporting our future generations who wiil no doubt have to pick up the pieces of all our mistakes. Would it not be possible to give parents more of a choice, instead of only offering financial help to parents who go back to work, give help to families who have one parent working and paying all their taxes, and the other at home bringing up the children?" Show less »
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3. 0 comment   |  Topic: Politics   |   Email to friends   |   Mar 03 2009 12:46:33 PM   |

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