People say believe half of what you see,
Son, and none of what you hear. – Marvyn Gaye, Heard it Through The Grapevine
With the Greek economic crisis one of the concerns voiced has been the over-riding of Greek sovereignty and with it Greek democracy (as defined by an elected authority) by officials from the Troika – European Commission (EC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Central Bank (ECB).
This over-riding, or rather over-seeing, of decisions made by authorities elected by Greek voters is the logical response to an electorate that cannot be trusted to make rational choices after considering all the possible scenarios. That is, their decision-making powers are suspect.
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Societies’ Achilles Heel
Written By: good2us
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Feb•
25•12
City Boys
Written By: good2us
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Dec•
12•11
Maybe it’s because I’m a Tory
That I love London so
Maybe it’s because I’m a Tory
That I think of her wherever I go
L’Albion perfide may be living up to its reputation. But Lord Palmerston’s observation to Queen Victoria certainly is “Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent (banking) interests.”
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A Taxing Question
Written By: good2us
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Nov•
28•11
If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I’ll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet….Beatles Taxman
Benjamin Franklin is attributed to having made the observation that the only thing in life that is certain is death and taxes. But at least we don’t encounter death every day
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You DO Need To Be Mad To Work Here
Written By: good2us
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Sep•
26•11
Big man, pig man, ha ha charade you are.
You well heeled big wheel, ha ha charade you are.
The present economic problems arise from a system ‘run’ by individuals who seem to have lost all touch with reality.
Or is it me?
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Fair Exchange is no Robbery
Written By: good2us
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Aug•
02•11
How many bankers does it take to fit a lightbulb?
Three, one to finance the labour and lightbulb purchase, and two to bet on how well it is done.
With the ascendancy of fiat money, those who control the flow of that money, i.e. the banking system and banks, become the single most important part of the economy.
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Black Magic
Written By: good2us
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Jun•
30•11
That old black magic has me in its spell, that old black magic that you weave so well
Just what is the implication of money in our pocket or bank account? That may sound daft as most people would reply it’s a measure of wealth. The more I have the more I can go shopping now or next week, or next month or whenever.
So it’s a means of exchange either now or deferred. If deferred then you’re storing up that purchase and so a store of wealth. Both of these aspects I cover in Money it’s a gas.
But I don’t mean how does it function but how does it get into our pockets or bank accounts and how is that linked to general economic activity and are some forms of economic activity more likely to maintain that flow than others? And what, if anything, do those differing forms of activity say about the societies from which they spring? As economic activity is performed by people who form societies.
Beware Politicians Bearing Bank Shares
Written By: good2us
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Jun•
23•11
The UK Deputy Prime Minister has apparently set out his plan in a letter to the chancellor, George Osborne, in which he advocates giving away shares the government currently owns in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Group to British taxpayers on the basis that such a move would allow a form of collective ownership of the banks.
This proposal seems to have reached the public domain as a reulst of Clegg speaking during a trade mission to Brazil accompanied by an array of cabinet ministers. Clegg said: “Psychologically it is immensely important that the British public feel they have not been overlooked or ignored. Their money has been used to the tune of billions and billions and billions to keep the British banking system on life support and they have absolutely no say at all in what happens when normality is restored.”
Evidently, Nick Clegg is very innovative and has modified the concept of Brazilian waxing, where embarrassing hair is removed, to that of Brazilian shareholding where the embarrassing ownership of unpopular banks is removed.
Money, it’s a gas
Written By: good2us
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Jun•
18•11
We are living through an economic and therefore a social paradigm shift. What will the other side look like?
Pigs Might Fly
Written By: good2us
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Jul•
19•10
So, Spain has won the World Cup and the Golden Generation that was, allegedly, English football (Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, et al) merely served to demonstrate that all that glisters is not gold. But does that make any difference to the parlous state Spain as an economy, and quite probably as a society, finds itself in? Well, yes and no!
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Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing
Written By: good2us
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Jul•
02•10
I was watching the Jeremy Kyle show the other day as I relaxed after a morning considering chord progressions. What better way to reflect upon harmony than by watching dissonance?
I only caught part of one little ‘show’ but it was very interesting. Basically, it was the age-old female genes seeking male genes show. An attractive, no great beauty but attractive, 20-something woman (I guess) was ‘upset’ that her 20-something (I guess) male ‘partner’ may have been having sex with other women. Which, of course, he was.
He in turn made similar claims about her, which were not totally ill-founded.
Kyle was berating both of them for not understanding what a relationship was. Quite natural, after all he does have ratings to consider and moral outrage never lost an audience.
Of course, economics and its biological equivalent – evolutionary psychology – tells us all we need to know really.