Two other important examples the study dissects are financial deregulation in the United States and privatization in post-Soviet Russia. In both cases, economic reforms that made a lot of sense in the abstract and in terms of economic efficiency had the unintended consequence of strengthening already powerful political interests.
As the powerful often do, they overplayed their hand. The result was a political spiral which in the United States helped set off the 2008 financial crisis and in Russia led to the rise of President Vladimir V. Putin and his authoritarian regime.
Some Cracks in the Technocratic Cult
Chrystia Freeland, Reuters
Trailer for sale or rent, rooms to rent for 50 cents….
Well, there are no angels in this hall of mirrors. The equitable distribution of wealth is the result of policy. The rubes that conjured up Europe’s efforts to restart their economies have been busy dolling out solutions favored by the elites. Here in this country the free spending warmongering you know who (All of one party, and too many from the other) have done a one-eighty. They are in slash and burn mode doing everything they can to dismantle the social safety net, not because they want to but because the global financial crisis leaves them no choice. It isn’t plausibly deniable any longer. A determined, elite, wealthy few have persuaded their politically connected influencers to lower trade barriers, reduce their taxes, and set law that looks the other way and allows them to keep their money in the Cayman Islands. They are not enlightened beings. They don’t know more than you do. They get away with these things not because they are right, but because we let them. It’s like a low budget movie. It looks cheap, scripts bad, and the actors in scene after scene are caught in the act of acting. Time to change the channel.
HOT SPRING HONEYMOON
“Hop on up, put your head on a pillow… make a wish.” Keefe said flaring his eyebrows with mischief.
“I can’t climb into bed with you smack dab in the middle of Main Street.”
“Oh, for god sakes Gretel,” Keefe said. “I don’t bite.” He slapped the bed next to him with his hand. “Do some stargazing. Make a wish. All you’re going to do is go home brush your teeth, put on your pajama’s and stare at a ceiling.”
“Keefe Kenny if the sheriff comes by and you get me into trouble.” She cocked her head to the side looking for some reason to see the truth in what he’d said.
“Wishing on a star isn’t a crime.”
“Making impossible wishes that never come true could be.”
