Liz Truss, Britain’s longest-serving prime minister, said the country’s economy has been stagnant for decades and many problems stem from a lack of sound money and currency depreciation, an erosion in the value of sterling caused by inflation and the printing of new bank notes.
Truss, who led a Conservative government for 45 days in 2022, said the financial situation had increased his interest in Bitcoin. which some observers see as a tool against debasement. She said she was “very interested” in cryptocurrency, which she first encountered while working at the Treasury and mentioned there “to shake things up”. Truss served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury for approximately two years until July 2019.
“A lot of the problems we’re having are due to the devaluation of our currency and the lack of sound money,” Truss said in an interview with CoinDesk. The lack of serious debate about money in academia and government had become “quite sinister” and discussions of monetary policy had become “a taboo” in government, despite its central role in determining economic outcomes.
For Truss, Bitcoin fits into a broader concern about centralization and control. She warned that the current system aims to increase “centralized control” and limit financial independence, including through regulation and taxation, and positioned bitcoin as part of a fight against this trend.
The economy is on a “very negative trajectory”, she said, warning that the country faces a long-term decline driven by weak growth, increasing state control and what she sees as a failure of monetary policy.
“We are getting relatively poorer, very quickly,” she said, pointing to high taxes, regulation and energy costs that make “the risk often not worth the reward” for entrepreneurs. “There is a strong disincentive to work in this country. »
Reflecting on the fallout from Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s 2022 mini-budget that characterized his tenure as prime minister, she argued that the resulting market turbulence exposed hidden fragilities rather than caused them. “There was a powder keg in the system that people didn’t know existed,” she said, pointing to leveraged retirement strategies.
CPAC UK
Now outside government, Truss is focused on political movement building, including CPAC UK, a three-day conference aimed at bringing together activists, entrepreneurs and voices from the “sovereignty and freedom” movement. “We need a movement of people who understand what the problem is,” she said.
Framing the issues bluntly, she added: “There are two choices, either we are finished or we change. »
