Profound: '...the financial system is a subsidiary of the state.'
Neo-liberalism foundered long ago because of its failure to accept this obvious truth.
Consoling: 'A more fundamental lesson still concerns the way the financial system works. Outsiders were already aware it was a black box. But they were prepared to assume that those inside it at least knew what was going on. This can hardly be true now.'
The 'smartest guys in the room' always turn out to be the thickest. Treat the Alpha Male as you would an incontinent child.
A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
I have taken this tip to heart - I wonder how I can apply it in real life?
ReplyDeleteQuite right!
ReplyDeleteThis applies a fortiori to barristers (and solicitors) as I know from long experience. The more alpha maleish they appear the more childish they are inside. But it doesn't only apply to men - there are lots of alpha women in the system who are just as silly but it takes more out of them to keep up the pretence.
But it didn't take Mr Wolf to tell us that (or you Mr Appleyard) unless the cultural elite has to be brought back to reality from time to time.
Martin Wolf recants.
ReplyDeleteWhat's going on with your fonts, Bryan? Doing crazy things in IE7.
ReplyDeleteIt should be fixed now, Johnny, it was something to do with cutting and pasting from the FT site.
ReplyDeleteEconomic fundamentalism basically - Wikipedia is about right. Tended to be very anti-state so overlooked the need for a very strong state to sustain markets.
ReplyDeleteBest portrait of a (power-mad) alpha female ever is Tilda Swinton's lawyer character in "Michael Clayton." She really deserved that academy award!
ReplyDeleteTrue, Susan, and a very good film - not as appreciated as it should have been.
ReplyDeleteThey may talk shite, these alpha male types, but when their shite hits the fan, they're not the ones left out of pocket.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the explanation, Bryan. Doesn't affect a 19th-century liberal like me, I guess.
ReplyDeleteNope, Frank, you're quite safe
ReplyDelete