Gary Stevenson
 Gary Stevenson      ( economist, author, youtuber) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1986 |
| Alma mater | • London School of Economics • Keble College (Oxford) |
"Tax the wealthy to rebalance the economy towards poor and middle income families" | |
Gary Stevenson is a British economist, former financial trader, and YouTuber known for his economic analysis and activism against economic inequality.[1]
Background
From a Mormon single-income working class background in Ilford, Stevenson won a scholarship to study for a BSc in economics and mathematics at the London School of Economics, before becoming a financial trader at Citibank in 2008 at age 21.
Millionaire
Stevenson became a millionaire in the wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis by betting on a large increase in economic inequality, and that growing poverty would cause interest rates to stay low.[2]
By trading on this prediction, he claims to have been Citibank's most profitable trader globally in 2011.[3]
In 2014, Stevenson retired from financial trading to study for an MPhil in Economics at Keble College (Oxford).
Activities
| "Worth about £700 million, Rishi Sunak has a passive income of, say, £26 million a year. He can't possibly spend £½ million a week, so uses his passive income to acquire more wealth." |
In 2020, Stevenson started the YouTube channel GarysEconomics, where he campaigns against economic inequality and explains economic concepts to a wider audience. He is a contributor to policy debates on inequality in Britain and has contributed to outlets such as The Guardian, BBC, LBC, Novara Media, and Piers Morgan Uncensored.
In 2021, Stevenson signed an open letter to Rishi Sunak alongside 29 other UK millionaires, calling on the then chancellor to introduce a wealth tax and stating that "instead of raising national insurance and taking £1,000 a year away from families on universal credit, the chancellor, who is a multimillionaire, should be taxing himself and people like me – people with wealth." He has also proposed limiting the length of time for which people can keep their wealth.
In 2022, Stevenson appeared in the Channel 4 documentary "Cryptocurrency: Has the Bubble Burst?" In 2023, he featured in Steffan Roe Griffiths' short film, "Gary Stevenson – Life Out of Balance", and appeared on BBC Politics Live.
In 2024, Stevenson published "The Trading Game" through Penguin Books, a memoir about his years working in the finance industry. The book rose to the number one spot on the Sunday Times bestseller list and received generally positive reviews. Joris Luyendijk of The Guardian wrote that it was "a well written and often darkly funny book that makes a convincing case that high finance is as toxic, reckless and deeply cynical as ever."[4]
In March 2025, Stevenson appeared on Channel 4's Ways To Change The World podcast looking at reasons the rich are getting even wealthier while the middle and working classes continue to struggle.
He tells Krishnan Guru-Murthy how the rich grow their wealth through passive income and investments, while ordinary people fall into debt, and argues that low interest rates, tax policies, and government responses to crises like 2008 and COVID-19 have mainly benefited the wealthy, deepening the financial divide.
And finally, he urges people to educate themselves and push for change before inequality spirals further out of control.[5]
References
- ↑ "Garys Economics"
- ↑ "Gary Stevenson, City trader turned campaigner: ‘I made money betting on a disaster’"
- ↑ "I made millions out of the last debt crisis. Now the wealthy stand to win again"
- ↑ "The Trading Game", Penguin Books, 2024, ISBN 9780241636602
- ↑ "Gary Stevenson on taxing the rich and why you're getting poorer | WTCTW podcast"
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