Taxed & Taken

Taxed & Taken
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Money, taxation, central banking, and freedom — exposing how the state expands its claim on your life, labour, and wealth. patelankeet.substack.com

  1. 1d ago

    Episode 37: The Exorbitant Privilege — Part 1: Why American Shares Beat Everything Else

    Most people have no idea that their supposedly “global” pension is heavily invested in America. And there’s a reason. Over the last 16 years, American companies genuinely crushed much of the developed world on profit growth. But that wasn’t the whole story. US investors also benefited from rising valuations, a strengthening dollar and something no other major economy possesses: the privilege of issuing the currency the world depends on. That creates enormous global demand for dollars and American assets, helps America borrow more cheaply, and allows it to run deficits on a scale that would cause serious problems almost anywhere else. In this episode, I explain why American shares became so dominant, why your pension became so exposed to them — and how much of America’s extraordinary performance was business success versus a financial system uniquely tilted in its favour. Because if that advantage ever weakens, the consequences could reach straight into your pension. Part One: How America won.Part Two: What happens if the advantage starts to disappear. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Aug 14

    Episode 36: Central Banks Part 3 — The Day Your Fixed Rate Ends

    If your fixed rate is ending, this episode matters. In Part 3 of the Central Banks series, we move from theory to real life. This is the episode about what happens when interest rates hit households directly — and why that pain is not a policy accident, but part of how the system works. We look at what rising rates actually do, who gets hit first, who escapes relatively untouched, and why central banks today may be too trapped by debt to deliver the kind of inflation cure Paul Volcker imposed in the early 1980s. We also examine the 2022 UK gilt crisis, why the Bank of England had to step in after just days of market stress, and what that tells us about the fragility of the modern financial system. Then we finish with the most important part: what you can actually do with this understanding. In this episode: * Why higher interest rates work by squeezing households * Why recent buyers and younger working families often absorb the loss * What Volcker’s “full dose” looked like — and why it may be impossible today * What the 2022 pension and gilt crisis revealed about Britain’s debt-heavy system * How financial repression quietly transfers wealth from savers to borrowers * The 4 principles to help you understand where you stand and protect yourself The 4 principles: * Work out whether you’re a lender or a borrower * Look at real returns, not nominal ones * Remember your income is your best hedge * Know where you are in the queue If you’ve followed all three parts of the series, thank you. And if you know someone who has never really asked where money comes from — send them Part 1. Stay informed, stay independent, and stay free. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Aug 7

    Episode 35: Central Banks Part 2 — The Government’s Biggest Lender Is Itself

    Who does the British government owe its debt to? Most people would say pension funds, insurance companies, foreign investors, or the banks. And yes — all of those matter. But the single biggest lender to the British government is the Bank of England. At its peak, it owned around a third of all government debt in existence, and even now it still holds hundreds of billions of pounds of it. The strangest part? It didn’t buy that debt with money that already existed. It created the money first — and then bought the debt. In this episode of Taxed & Taken, I break down how that system actually works in plain English. We go through: * how government debt really works * why banks are allowed to create money * what quantitative easing actually is * why asset prices soared after 2008 * why wages didn’t keep up * and why the losses ultimately fall back on the taxpayer This is the second part of the central banking series, and by the end of it you’ll understand how money is created, who gets it first, who benefits most, and who ends up carrying the cost. The episode also sets up the next question in the series: once inflation is loose, who gets chosen to pay for bringing it back down? If this episode changes how you see the financial system, share it with one person. Stay informed, stay independent, and stay free. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jul 31

    Episode 34: Central Banks — Part 1: How Government Debt Became Money

    Central banks were not originally created to control inflation or protect your savings. They were created because governments needed a reliable way to borrow enormous sums without defaulting, debasing the currency or provoking revolt. In 1694, the Bank of England lent £1.2 million to the Crown. Parliament guaranteed the interest using future taxes, while the government’s IOU was transformed into an asset against which new banknotes could be created and lent back to the public. The same debt now produced two streams of interest: one paid by taxpayers and another paid by borrowers. In Part 1 of this three-part series, we uncover: * Why kings needed a new way to finance war * How government debt became the backing for money * Why ordinary people became the permanent guarantors * How a £1.2 million loan became a national debt that has never been repaid * Why the system has survived for more than three centuries This is not a story about a hidden conspiracy. It is the documented history of a machine built in public view — but rarely explained in plain English. Listen now and discover where money really comes from. Stay informed. Stay independent. Stay free. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Jul 24

    Episode 33: The 4 Environments That Decide If You Get Rich or Stay Poor

    Most people are told to follow the same financial formula: Invest regularly.Buy a diversified portfolio.Hold shares and bonds.Ignore the headlines.Wait. That advice worked exceptionally well during the economic environment that dominated much of the period from 1980 to 2020. But what happens when the environment changes? In this episode, I explain the four economic environments that determine what happens to your savings, pension, property and investments: 1. Good WeatherEconomic growth is strong and prices rise gently. Shares, property and growth companies tend to thrive. 2. The HeatwaveThe economy is still growing, but inflation is accelerating. Energy, commodities and other real assets begin to matter more. 3. The Long StormThe economy weakens while prices continue rising. Shares and bonds can fall together, breaking the traditional 60/40 portfolio. 4. The FreezeGrowth collapses and prices stagnate or fall. Cash and high-quality bonds can provide protection—and create opportunities to buy assets cheaply. The biggest investment mistake is not necessarily buying a bad asset. It is owning the right asset in the wrong economic environment. You do not need to predict every market movement. You do not need to beat hedge funds to the news. You simply need to recognise when the weather has changed—and stop dressing for the world that existed five years ago. In this episode, you will learn: * How to identify each economic environment without complicated charts * Why shares and bonds sometimes collapse together * Why gold, commodities and infrastructure perform differently from financial assets * When holding cash becomes a strength rather than a failure * Why the advice that worked for forty years may not work for the next ten * How to avoid losing an entire decade by remaining trapped in the wrong portfolio Most investors are still positioned for an economy that may no longer exist. Listen now—before the weather changes again. This episode discusses general economic ideas and is not personal financial advice. Taxed & Taken: The Podcast They Don’t Want You To Hear Subscribe, share the episode, and send it to someone who still thinks investing is only about choosing the right share. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Jul 19

    Episode 32: "Andy Burnham Just Became PM. Here's Why That Should Terrify”

    This week a man walked into Number 10 having told the TUC that our economic model “doesn’t work well enough for ordinary people.” I want to be fair to him. He probably means it. That isn’t the danger. The danger is that we’ve heard those exact words before — and I can show you where they led. In this episode I explain, in plain English, the real difference between capitalism and socialism. Then we go and look at what happened the last time Britain picked the second one. Inside: * Why nobody on earth knows how to make a pencil — and why that’s the whole argument * The 83% tax on earnings and the 98% rate on savings. Not a typo. * September 1976: the Chancellor turns back at Heathrow as the pound collapses, and Britain borrows more than any nation had ever asked of the IMF * The winter the rats took Leicester Square and the gravediggers of Liverpool went on strike * The strongest arguments against my case — made properly, then answered * What Thatcher actually did, and the real price communities paid, which I don’t dress up * “But what about the sewage?” — the statistic almost nobody knows Nobody who built the 1970s wanted coffins stacked in a warehouse. They all meant well. Good intentions are not a policy. 🎧 Listen now — 40 minutes. 🔒 Paying subscribers get The Receipts: every figure sourced, including the Budget speech where a sitting Chancellor calls the 98% rate “an absurdity” that raises almost nothing. Think for yourself. Keep what’s yours. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 11

    Episode 31: Gary Stevenson Is Wrong About Inequality (But Not for the Reason You Think)

    Gary Stevenson has become one of Britain’s most influential voices on inequality, arguing that the rich are getting richer while everyone else falls behind—and that a 2% annual wealth tax is the solution. In this episode, I take Gary’s argument seriously and examine it from first principles. We explore: * Why house prices and asset values exploded after 2008. * How Quantitative Easing and government borrowing changed the financial system. * Why savers were punished while asset owners benefited. * Whether billionaires really take your money—or whether government takes far more throughout your lifetime. * A detailed worked example of a £100 million business under a 2% annual wealth tax. * Why many European countries abandoned wealth taxes. * What Britain can learn from countries such as Ireland, Estonia, Switzerland and Singapore. * And finally, my alternative vision for reducing inequality—through lower taxes, greater ownership and a smaller, more focused government. Whether you agree or disagree, this episode challenges one of the biggest economic debates of our time. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Jul 3

    Episode 30: The Housing Crisis Isn't About Houses — It's a 50-Year Cover-Up

    Why do homes feel more unaffordable than ever? Most people blame greedy landlords, property developers, foreign investors or a lack of supply. But what if they’re only looking at the symptoms? In Episode 30 of Taxed & Taken, we take a completely different approach to the UK’s housing crisis. Instead of asking “Why are houses so expensive?” we ask a much bigger question: What happened to our money? In this episode, you’ll discover: * 🏠 Why rising house prices don’t necessarily mean homeowners have become wealthier. * 📉 How the collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971 changed the global monetary system. * 💷 The impact of money printing, quantitative easing and fiat currency on property prices. * 🪙 Why pricing houses in gold tells a completely different story. * ⚡ How expensive energy, planning restrictions and regulation have dramatically increased the cost of building homes. * 🏗️ Why simply promising more “affordable housing” doesn’t automatically make housing affordable. * 🇬🇧 What Britain could do to restore genuine housing affordability for future generations. This isn’t an episode about politics. It’s an episode about economics. Whether you’re a homeowner, a first-time buyer, a landlord or simply curious about why the housing market feels broken, this episode will challenge the way you think about property forever. If you enjoy the episode, please consider sharing it with someone who is trying to get onto the property ladder or anyone who believes rising house prices automatically mean a country is becoming wealthier. 🎙️ Welcome to Taxed & Taken: The Podcast They Don’t Want You To Hear — where we challenge conventional wisdom, question the policies shaping our lives, and explore the economics behind the headlines. Get full access to Taxed & Taken: Money, Power & Freedom from the State at patelankeet.substack.com/subscribe

    Episode 30: The Housing Crisis Isn't About Houses — It's a 50-Year Cover-Up
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Money, taxation, central banking, and freedom — exposing how the state expands its claim on your life, labour, and wealth. patelankeet.substack.com

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  • Creator
    Taxed & Taken
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    37
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Ankeet Patel
  • Show Website
    Taxed & Taken