Share Sounds from Thought for the Week

Food banks are very busy at this time of year, and Trussell, which co-ordinates and supplies 1,400 of them in the UK with 36,000 volunteers, is particularly active. Its combination of nationwide scalability and local partnerships shows how voluntary and philanthropic contributions can deliver hope in the face of a welfare state which has failed to break the cycle of deprivation over the past fifty years. Is this the model, combined with a more egalitarian form of capitalism, which can provide a more compassionate society, with participation for all? Background music: 'Soul Food' by Chris Haugen Image Source: Trussell

Dame Julia Hoggett is Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange, and featured in a half-page interview in The Sunday Times Business last weekend. She is a strong advocate for encouraging personal share ownership, which demonstrates clearly how a sense of responsibility builds from individual ownership: this is also particularly evident in employee share ownership. The correlation between ownership and responsibility at an individual level throughout society needs to be more fully understood and supported by business and politicians. Background music: 'Waiting' by Andrew Langdon

Matters of life and death featured strongly in the House of Commons last Friday. thanks to Kim Leadbeater's Private Members' Bill on assisted dying — it's curious how the new UK parliament has developed such a fixation on 'end of life'. The Government's plans for inheritance tax might encourage people towards a serious look at philanthropy — register to join Philanthropy Impact's webinar on Donor Advised Funds, starting at 12 noon this Wednesday 4th December. Background music: 'Wandering Soul' by Asher Fulero Image source: Philanthropy Impact

A fortnight ago Justin Welby announced that he would resign as Archbishop of Canterbury following the Makin report's criticism of the Church's handling of allegations of abuse and Welby's failure to investigate the allegations. We suspect that real reason for this failure to act was not so much the desire to protect someone whose behaviour was evil but rather the chronically damaging cult of inaction in the Church, which can smother even the most urgent priorities. 'Nothing changes here' is a hymn extract which neatly encapsulates the way that inaction has been treated as a virtue for centuries, but in today's world it has become quite the opposite. With reducing congregations and chronic administrative duplication and inconsistency, urgent action is needed to focus on core Christian principles and organisational rationalisation. Background music: 'Requiem In Cello' by Hanu Dixit

Gordon Brown and Ruth Kelly set out a comprehensive plan to tackle child poverty with the Child Trust Fund. We've learnt a huge amount from putting it into practice over the past two decades, and we're now ready for a more focused 'Mark 2' which will embody all of the lessons learnt. But will our new Labour Government have the strategic determination to follow their example? Or will it fall to today's philanthropists, walking in the footsteps of people like Andrew Carnegie, to take up the baton? The encouragement to make significant charitable endowments remains intact in inheritance taxation arrangements, and can support 75% of the commitment necessary to deliver a new scheme. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads Image source: Telegraph Newspapers

Last week we focused on UK government debt: but it pales into insignificance when compared to U.S. national debt. Donald Trump has radical plans to apply tax cuts and huge import tariffs, but could this trigger a global financial crisis with no-one prepared to buy debt in a zombie economy? U.S. national debt has doubled to over $35 trillion during the ten years that Share Radio has been on air: both Democrats and Republicans have driven it remorselessly. A new approach to economics is needed which doesn't rely on either bigger government or lower taxes. Background music: 'Dark Alley Deals' by Aaron Kenny

The yellow-shaded column is the OBR's forecast for borrowing in 2028-29 as at March this year; the blue-shaded is their latest forecast. Is this really 'Invest, Invest, Invest' or 'Borrow, Borrow, Borrow'? The problem is that it all lands on the shoulders of today's young people, who will struggle more to find jobs after the employer NI changes and whose prospects of home ownership and family formation are already weighed down by student debt. Background music: 'Missing Persons' by Jeremy Blake

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has called for an overhaul of copyright legislation to recognise the broad span of human creativity. It is indeed time to re-align the balance between sharing knowledge and ring-fencing ownership, but the quid pro quo is to provide mass participation in the wealth creation made possible by Generative Artificial Intelligence. John Maynard Keynes' experience of the two world wars of the 20th century showed how complacent attitudes amongst the wealthy led to these tragedies, and Gillian Tett has drawn a parallel with today's cocktail of globalisation, capitalism and rapid technological development. The Achilles' heel is still acute wealth polarisation, but mass participation could provide a way forward. Background music: 'Intellect' by Yung Logos

With the '50% matured' stage for Child Trust Funds being reached at the end of October, The Share Foundation hopes the Chancellor will announce introduction of its 'Default Withdrawal at 21' plan in the Budget. This would immediately release c. £250 million of accounts to low-income young adults. Meanwhile The Share Foundation's pre-launch announcement of its forthcoming 'Stepping Forward — Performing Arts for Life' course also caught the eye of BBC news with their webpage article of this major life skills initiative for young people in care, building on the success of its Stepladder Plus course. Background music: 'Hopeful Freedom' by Asher Fulero Image source: Particle6