Liz Truss, Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister, said her country’s economy had been stagnant for decades, with many of the problems stemming from a lack of sound money and a decline in the value of the currency, as well as a decline in the value of the pound due to inflation and the printing of new banknotes.
Mr Truss, who led the Conservative government for 45 days in 2022, said the financial situation had spurred interest in Bitcoin, which some observers see as a tool against degradation. She said she is “very interested” in cryptocurrencies. He first encountered cryptocurrencies while working at the Treasury Department, where he mentioned them “to shake things up,” he said. Truss served as Treasury Secretary for about two years until July 2019.
“A lot of the problems we have are due to currency deterioration and the lack of a sound currency,” Truss said in an interview with CoinDesk. The lack of serious discussion about money in academia and government had become “very sinister”, with discussion of monetary policy becoming “taboo” within government despite its central role in driving economic performance.
For Truss, Bitcoin is important alongside broader concerns about centralization and control. She warned that the current system aims to increase “centralized control” and limit financial independence, particularly through regulation and taxation, and positioned Bitcoin as part of the resistance to that trend.
He said the economy was on a “very negative trajectory” and warned that the country faced long-term decline due to slowing economic growth, tightening state control and what he saw as monetary policy failures.
“We’re becoming relatively poor very quickly,” she said, pointing to high taxes, regulations and energy costs that make “the risk is often not worth the reward” for entrepreneurs. “There are things that seriously disincentivize people from working in this country.”
Reflecting on the impact of the 2022 mini-budget that was a hallmark of Prime Minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s premiership, he argued that the resulting market turmoil exposed hidden vulnerabilities rather than causing them. “There was a tinderbox in the system that people didn’t know about,” she said, pointing to leveraged pension strategies.
CPAC UK
Now outside government, Truss is focused on building political movements, including CPAC UK, a three-day conference aimed at bringing together the voices of activists, entrepreneurs and the entire sovereignty and freedom movement. “We need a movement of people who understand what’s at stake,” she says.
She puts the stakes bluntly, adding, “There are two choices: It’s over, or it’s time to change.”
