Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, said the country’s economy had been stagnant for decades and that many of the problems were caused by a lack of a sound currency, currency devaluation, inflation that devalued the pound and the printing of new banknotes.
Truss, who leads the Conservative government for 45 days in 2022, said financial conditions have boosted her interest in Bitcoin which some observers see as a tool against disparagement. She said she was “very interested” in cryptocurrencies, which she first encountered while working at the Treasury Department, where she mentioned it “to make a difference.” Truss served as finance minister for about two years, until July 2019.
“A lot of the problems we have are caused by the devaluation of our currency and the lack of a sound currency,” Truss told CoinDesk in an interview. The lack of serious debate about currency in academia and government has become “pretty sinister”, with discussions about monetary policy becoming “taboo” within government, despite the central role monetary policy plays in driving economic outcomes.
For Truss, Bitcoin sits alongside broader concerns about centralization and control. She warned that the current system is designed to increase “centralized control” and limit financial independence, particularly through regulation and taxation, and positioned Bitcoin as part of a push to counter this trend.
She said the economy was on a “very negative trajectory” and warned that the country faced a prolonged recession due to weak growth, tighter state controls and what she saw as a failure of monetary policy.
“We’re getting relatively poor, very quickly,” she said, noting that high taxes, regulations and energy costs make entrepreneurs’ “risks often not worth the rewards.” “There are huge barriers to working in this country.”
Reflecting on the impact of Prime Minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s 2022 mini-budget, a feature of her tenure as Prime Minister, she argued that the resulting market turmoil exposed hidden vulnerabilities rather than the causes of them. “There’s a powder keg in the system that people don’t know about,” she said, referring to leveraged pension strategies.
Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Now, outside of government, Truss is focused on building a political movement, including CPAC UK, a three-day conference that brings together activists, entrepreneurs and voices from the Sovereignty and Freedom movement. “We need a movement of people who understand the problem,” she said.
Pointing out the stakes candidly, she added: “There are two options, either we get it done or we change it.”
