Dear Financial Voice Reader,

Of course rising asset prices are a double edged sword. Those not asset owners miss out on the wealth being generated. But better to have those prices rising and the prospect of joining the asset owning classes than asset prices falling and wealth being depleted. Wealth is created by owning asset which rise in price. First we want them rising, next we must ensure you can afford to own them.
To be able to afford to own those assets – you need a higher income in your pocket. How? More jobs, less tax on the lowest earners, and more money – their fair share – from the banks and others making massive profits. But not so much that you strangle them from raising wages for their employees. It’s simple. As for Government - to spend for one off jobs, one off benefit, which does not create a sustainable source of income is fool’s gold; a short term unsustainable boost from spending, but not from investing. You decide which Party is most likely to deliver on the simple truths above.
When I was a politics student at University I was fortunate enough to have 1 to 1 tutorials with probably the leading specialist in General Election of the past 60 years – David Butler. David knew everyone from Winston Churchill to every PM since. He also knew that the best predictor of elections was not personalities, it wasn’t even issues such as immigration. Until the 1980s it was class. Then it was interest rates. Why? Because those things underlined one thing – the money in your pocket. We actually vote on the whole based on whether we feel we will be better off.
In the 1980s I as a school child bought into privatisation stocks – then in the 1990s my first home. Owning assets which rise in price made me want to vote in a direction which benefited me. When my corporation tax rate went down – I felt the same. It’s a simple truth easily forgotten.
But what about social justice? Of Defence? Education? NHS? All these things are important. But even with these it comes down to will you be better off? Sadly, people tend not to vote altruistically – at least that’s what the voting data suggests.
So are we not a society? Caring for each other? Heck yes we are – but I want to donate the money from my own pocket, from having more income myself and choosing the causes I support – again it comes to my having more money in my pocket.
The question now to ask yourself is:
1. Do you own an asset – a home, a stock owning pension?
2. Do you own a company paying corporation tax?
3. Are you on low income and so hoping for tax exemption?
4. Are you hoping to be an asset owner?
When you answer the above you should find the answer to how to vote. I know what I think.