Crap: A Guide to Politics - The Blog

MAD AS A HATTERSLEY

I hope that my previous entry convinced readers that under corporatism, the pols have exactly what they want – the lever of power over business and a ready-made scapegoat when it all goes wrong.

What has Roy Hattersley got to do with it, though?  Okay we’ll accept that he spouts Newspeak.  Like wealth equals freedom and consumers are “stakeholders” who can therefore gatecrash on any business function but no political ones. (See Newspeak Crap in my book.)

We can also accept his view (The Times, 1st January) that shareholders in Northern Rock (or any other company) should not be bailed out by taxpayers (what about employees and depositors, Roy??).

We can even accept that depositors’ savings “were put at risk by the economic system that Labour’s opponents (the Conservatives) support”.  (And that Labour’s supporters support, of course – you missed that bit, Roy.)

But what nobody with the faintest idea of corporatism can accept is that Northern Rock shareholders “are typical casualties of the free market”.  What sort of a free market is it in which banks (a) need a government licence, (b) cannot issue their own notes (the Central Bank has a monopoly of role issue) (c) have to use interest rates based on those rigged by the Central Bank (d) get government support (e) make billions from government in other ways – advising them, raising capital for them, and trading their “securities”?

Will that do for now, Roy?  At least you can rest in the knowledge that a real live economist who also writes in The Times (17th January) agrees with you.  Despite the fact that the situation in the USA is much the same, Anatole Kaletsky calls Citigroup and Merrill Lynch “the proudest and loudest proponents of American-style private enterprise”.  How about American-style corporatism, Anatole?

But Hatters hasn’t finished.  “The depositors were rescued by government intervention in the economy.  The whole story might be a parable designed to give ministers the courage of their social engineering convictions”.  Whoops, sorry Roy, “their social democratic convictions”.  I must have been thinking about my next piece for this blog.

Here’s a better description; “a fable designed to gull we the sheeple into blaming markets for the disastrous consequences of government intervention in the economy”.

You don’t need to be steeped in banking theory to see that the industry is steeped in corporatism – just look at Tony Blair’s appointment to advise J P Morgan Chase at a reported salary of £2 millions p.a.  There is only one way that Tony can be worth anything to a business – by using his skills as a lobbyist and persuader to gain favours from governments.

Like I said, Roy, corporatism, not free markets.  To learn about genuine free banking you need to go back to the early nineeenth century and look at Scotland.  Or read “Free Banking in Britain” by Lawrence White (Blackwell).  After all, they tell me you are a literate man.  For a lesson in corporatism, perhaps you could just read my book – if   you’re a busy chap working on all that social democratic guff, then chapters 5 & 10 will do. Failing that, just follow this link.

Free Enterprise or Corporatism?

Who wrote this and when?

“Nationalisation is inefficient, hugely expensive, and totally  unnecessary.  The desired results can be achieved just as effectively  and far more cheaply through taxation and regulation”.

It was part of the Conservative Party manifesto in 1974 – and duly noted in the first edition of my book.  It is not crap as such, indeed from the politico’s point of view it’s a godsend; a win-win situation with a ready-made fall-guy (the relevant industry or business when something goes wrong – note “when” not “if”). This is Corporatism in action – unholy alliances between Big Government and Big Business. 

Since that 1974 manifesto at least and in truth since World War I at the latest the journos and even Joe Public have no excuse for being gulled in this way, yet almost invariably, they attribute all faults to business and even worse, see all business as examples of the free market as opposed to state-rigged monsters.

The most glaring current (and recurrent) example is the railway industry; it is clear that Network Rail is a major feature (the major feature?) and that travel price increases are “agreed” (often imposed) by the Minister for Transport or his henchmen.  What do you expect from a train operator, having already accepted the poisoned chalice of subsidies?  It is pathetic that seasoned journos (with the odd honourable exception such as Jeff Randall and Simon Heffer) and letter writers by the score carry on in the same old way, many hankering after the “good old days” before “privatisation”.

Privatisation?  Now there’s a word to conjure with.

COMING SOON

More real live crap soon, in the shape of the inimitable and unstoppable Roy Hattersley (covered in both editions of my book and still going strong), on another supreme example of Corporatism, the Banking industry – yes, he calls it the free market. Also our friend Dave (The Vague) Cameron, not ten years old in 1975 but already one of the all-time crappers, on the BBC.

In the meantime, let us rejoice that the fully nationalised industries like the NHS are beginning to be rumbled, and not before time.  I particularly like the following letter to The Times (3rd January 2008) from a Mr Brian Christley of Abergele, Conway:

“Fit as a Gordon:
Sir, with regard to the Prime Minister’s plan to withhold NHS treatment from the unhealthy (report and letters, Jan 11th): if we knew Gordon Brown’s precise weight, blood pressure, cholesterol level, etc. we could use these figures as our target for getting an appointment.”

Bravo.  (Wouldn’t it also be nice to know if persistent tantrums are a cause of high blood pressure or a manufactured safety valve, and the corresponding effects on the victims?) And how about a competition to design an application form (politicos will be exempt of course) for seeking unrestricted coverage – a privilege which will become increasingly rare for the NHS’s financiers – we the sheeple.

The point re NHS rationing is covered in Chapter 11 (Fashionable Crap) including a reference to Matthew Syed of The Times. (Items re the NHS generally feature regularly throughout the book.)

Reviews of Crap: A Guide to Politics

I hope readers of this blog would agree that I have been backward in coming forward with reviews of my book itself.  (The main reason is that there aren’t very many!).  I thought that the new year would be a good time to mention reviews; naturally readers can skip this entry as crap is they wish!

There are now several newspaper reviews to add to those at online bookshops.  The newspaper reviews are available at my website here.  All are complete and unamended; I was tempted to cut out Samuel Brittan’s second part, (although it is easy to refute anyway).  I live in Stamford so it’s not surprising to see a review there. It’s been in a long queue but is worth the wait.  I also used to live in Birmingham – in another generation! 

On line, there are several reviews at both Amazon and Waterstones, with (I understand) somebody waiting for Politicos to develop the facility. Another is due at The Social Affairs Unit. The relevant links are also available at my website.

I await the other national dailies with interest (and not a little trepidation).  The self-published first edition in 1975 received huge coverage; perhaps the queue was shorter, or the format was rarer, at the time.  Perhaps the antipathy to Gordon Brown’s lot tempts many journos to dislike criticism of  Cameron (Dave the Vague).  Or perhaps the second edition is simply not as good as the first.(in which case my pals are deceiving me!) Any views?