In England less than 1% of the population – including aristocrats, the royal family and wealthy investors, owns about half the land. Putting it another way, with a population of about 56 million, half the country belongs to just 25,000 landowners, some of them corporations. This reflects the chronic inequality of Britain, in contrast to …
Myth #2: Good governance entails fiscal responsibility. This is one of the hoariest shibboleths of modern American politics: feckless Democrats tax and spend; sober Republicans stand for balanced budgets. So President Ronald Reagan claimed, en route to racking up the massive deficits that transformed the United States from the world’s number one creditor into its …
Myth #1: The purpose of government is to advance the common good. In modern American politics, the concept of the common good no longer has any practical meaning. It hasn’t for decades. The phrase might work for ceremonial occasions — inaugural addresses, prayer breakfasts, that sort of thing — but finds little application in the …
Exchange in a grocery store queue between an elderly white man (me) and a younger African American : ”What do you think of Brexit?” Me: “ Put it this way, it is the greatest disaster since William the Conqueror invaded England and brought with him Continental feudalism. It took centuries to repair the damage”. African …
Actions by federal regulators and Republicans in Congress over the past two years have paved the way for banks and other financial companies to issue more than $1 trillion in risky corporate loans, sparking fears that Washington and Wall Street are repeating the mistakes made before the financial crisis. Six years ago banking regulators put …
Continue reading ‘Laying the foundations of the next financial crash’ »
