If we, as a society, deem climate change the greatest threat facing humanity and that urgent action is needed to limit our CO2 emissions, then printing money to achieve that aim need not be inflationary because there is corresponding work associated with it, creating sustainable growth and boosting GDP.
Even in the depths of global economic despair in 2009 when we needed really aggressive monetary policy, the measures used and the quantum of money printed as Quantitative Easing was much too timid, and anyway it got stuck in the bowels of banks' balance sheets as excess reserves as they were all too terrified of lending money on to real people or businesses, as the policy intended.
Doom-mongers believe politicians will choose the easy way out and put pressure on central banks to crank up the printing presses. They often point to the weakness of the international monetary system, because it is based on fiat (soft) money, which is not backed by the value from tangible materials like gold. The pessimists think a monetary system based on fiat money will rarely, if ever, exist for long because hyperinflation is inevitable.
Barnardo's believes that the scandal of child poverty in this country will only be tackled when action is taken to improve both the income and the access to services that the poorest families have. We know that money matters to the poorest families - especially when rising living costs, stagnating wages, a weak labour market and spending cuts are placing more pressure on them than ever before. Many families in poverty in the UK live on just £12 per person per day after housing costs. That £12 has to stretch to cover everything: food, electricity, water, gas, bus fares.