Liz Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister, said the country’s economy has been stagnant for decades and many of the problems are a result of a lack of sound money and currency debasement, an erosion in the value of sterling caused by inflation and the printing of new banknotes.
Truss, who led a Conservative government for 45 days in 2022, said the financial situation strengthened her interest in bitcoin. which some observers see as a tool against degradation. She said she is “very interested” in cryptocurrency, which she first learned about when she worked at the Treasury and mentioned it there “to change things.” Truss was chief secretary to the Treasury for around two years, until July 2019.
“A lot of the problems we have are due to the debasement of our currency and the lack of sound money,” Truss said in an interview with CoinDesk. The absence of serious debate about money in academia and government had become “quite ominous” and discussions of monetary policy had become “taboo” within government, despite its central role in driving economic outcomes.
For Truss, bitcoin coincides with a broader concern about centralization and control. He warned that the current system is geared toward increasing “centralized control” and limiting financial independence, particularly through regulation and taxes, and positioned Bitcoin as part of a pushback against that trend.
The economy is on a “very negative trajectory,” she said, warning that the country faces a long-term decline driven by weak growth, increased state control and what she sees as a failure of monetary policy.
“We are getting relatively poorer, very quickly,” he said, pointing to high taxes, regulations and energy costs that make “the risk often not worth the reward” for entrepreneurs. “There is a huge 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, he argued that the resulting market turmoil exposed hidden fragilities rather than causing them. “There was a powder keg in the system that people didn’t know about,” he said, pointing to leveraged pension strategies.
CPAC UK
Now out of government, Truss is focused on building a political movement, including CPAC UK, a three-day conference aimed at bringing together activists, businesspeople and voices from across the “sovereignty and freedom” movement. “We need a movement of people who understand what the problem is,” he said.
Clearly laying out what is at stake, he added: “There are two options: either we end it or we change it.”
