New Governor of the Bank of England

[teamsaint]

Indeed - though not only the big parties but also the small parties and everyone else happen to be playing the same game, even if the smaller parties and people are being made by the larger ones to play it as though someone else's puppets; standing against the power of big finance can sometimes actually work as far as it can go, but those who contrive to do it successfully are usually already in the same kind of boat as those large financial organisations themselves only on an obviously smaller scale, so one might well question what material difference it could possibly make to anything in the greater scheme of things.

Not being a political theorist, I don't know how change can happen. But I do know that we need to be aware of what the problem is before that change comes.

[ahinton]

Not being a political theorist, I don't know how change can happen. But I do know that we need to be aware of what the problem is before that change comes.

Well, I'm not one either, of course, but the sense of enmeshment (if that's a word) to which you draw attention transcends just the big corporations, I think - it's not just a case of people having to be in thrall to the big boys but one of everyone being to some degree taken advantage of by everyone else, at all levels. Not only does "Labour" not represent "the people", no other party does either, as I believe you agree - but then I don't really see how they can. I'm not suggesting that "there's no such thing as society", but in one sense it could nevertheless be argued that there are at least as many societies as there are people, each pursuing its own agenda while at the same time relating to one another. The fact that almost every state is over-borrowed and therefore has a kind of mortgagee status in relation to others surely makes the possibility that any kind of government can actually "represent the people" an ever more remote prospect, does it not?

I caught a small part of an R4 programme yesterday (is it OK to mention R4 on here?!) about the British welfare state; I'd have liked to listen to more of it but time and pressures did not permit. The part that I heard contrasted the original Beveridge principles with how that welfare state functions today and the general view was that Beveridge would not only be horrified by what his invention had turned into but also that he'd barely be able to recognise it. The fact that what was originally intended to be a kind of state insurance scheme has turned into something quite different and the fact that the government now has to fund a proportion of the benefits system from borrowings rather than from "contributions" from those for whom it is supposed to exist presumably serves only to emphasise that difference.

To return to your post, yes, we do need to be aware, but if the sheer variety and magnitude of a host of problems are so great, it becomes ever harder to know how to achieve resolution but changes will continue to occur regardless while people charged with that responsibility wrestle with those problems (or not, as the case may be).

Whilst the rôle of Governor of BoE remains an important, big and powerful one, anyone seeking to fulfil it will inevitably have his/her hands tied rather more than was once the case, because of the sheer extent of international financial interdependency and the speed at which transactions can now be effected.

[Flosshilde]

What on earth are you talking about? It was me who asked the question!

Is this what you are referring to?

Lol! I think that a lot of people in business will be very pleased about this announcement. Originally he said he wasn't interested. The only downside for some was his past connection with G/Sachs.

Perhaps you could explain why his connection might be a downside for some, especially as this -

Not a game. You implied, with your clever "you betcha" that you knew what ts, and by extension what I, was referring to as regards the G/S connection.

I was a bit surprised that you would know about this, so I merely wondered if you would enlighten us.

I'm happy to give you a little longer, in case you need to, er, check a few facts first.

suggests that you think you have greater knowledge of it than Amateur51?

[ahinton]

[QUOTE=Flosshilde;229717][QUOTE=Simon;229577]

Is this what you are referring to?
Please check message #33 as you appear to have misattributed a quotation to me when in fact it was Simon's response to a post that I'd made earlier.

[Flosshilde]

Duly edited & corrected. I think the problem was with Simon's [quote]s.

[Simon]

Duly edited & corrected. I think the problem was with Simon's quotes.

I'm sorry? In what way was the problem connected with my quotes? Did I too misattribute?

[Boilk]

The world increasingly being dictated to by Goldman Sachs alumni... and Britain goes red on this map when Mark Carney becomes governor of the BoE

Images from Against Crony Capitalism