Sunday, August 21, 2011

A cunning plan, after all?

So Apple is now worth as much as all euro zone banks..?

There is not nearly enough discussion of what is going on in the Eurozone and where this has GOT to end up. The Europhiliacs at the BBC continue to be in a state of terrified denial, and even Sky News is avoiding the subject in case recession mania causes everyone paying the ~£50 monthly sky tax to consider FreeSat instead.

The Ancient Greeks ironically warned us 3000 years ago: "In a democracy, the people will always vote to spend all the money on themselves". And they never forgot how...

Is is inevitable that the Eurozone will be transformed either into the Fourth Reich (quite possible, we know the Germans enjoy their beach vacations) or chopped back up into a series of discrete "happy go lucky" economies where the industrious and wealth creating rich go for a good time, with the unfortunate occupants of those countries being dragged along in a world in which they are simply not financially or temperamentally equipped to compete.

But fortunately for the rest of us, during most of the period since Ancient Greeks, there was no"democracy". Instead a bunch of human rights denying despots that understood the basics of gathering wealth and empires, by nicking it and keeping it of the hands of those who would waste/spend it.

Maybe the Western allies' moves to force "democracy" on the fabulously wealthy oil states is so that the occupants of those states will start spending the money on themselves and boosting the global economy. There may not be so many gold and marble palaces built, huge offshore bank accounts accumulated or £20m horses bred, but a lot more goods will be bought to keep trading nations ticking over.

Mostly though, has anyone got a better idea?

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