If that doesn’t get you angry, you should really pick up this book, Treasure Islands, which explains the history of the financial powerhouses of the world, such as the City of London Corporation.
If you’ve got the time, it’s also worth reading this nicely controversial article in today’s Telegraph, which explains how the moral decay of our society is as bad at the top as the bottom:
A great deal has been made over the past few days of the greed of the rioters for consumer goods, not least by Rotherham MP Denis MacShane who accurately remarked, “What the looters wanted was for a few minutes to enter the world of Sloane Street consumption.” This from a man who notoriously claimed £5,900 for eight laptops. Of course, as an MP he obtained these laptops legally through his expenses.
Yesterday, the veteran Labour MP Gerald Kaufman asked the Prime Minister to consider how these rioters can be “reclaimed” by society. Yes, this is indeed the same Gerald Kaufman who submitted a claim for three months’ expenses totalling £14,301.60, which included £8,865 for a Bang & Olufsen television.
Thanks for the second link especially, Mark. A right-wing commentator I agree with. Has the world truly gone mad?
Hey, Brian – yeah, it’s fascinating to see it on the Telegraph isn’t it? Strange times…
That’s actually the second article in the daily telegraph I’ve agreed with in a week. I think they must have a secret box of sensible copy marked ‘in case of civil unrest, break glass’.
Heh, if only the Daily Mail had something like that. Actually, they’ve probably got Enoch Powell or Oswald Mosley behind their safety glass.
…. some years ago some bloke made a map of “cyber world” by plotting fiber optics networks in US and found some interesting stuff. I reckon a similar interesting dynamic and interactive multi-dimensional map could be made up of the “money world” using realtime feed from stock exchanges, mergers, acquisations, bankrupticies etc.