The deeply contented edifice that is the Financial Times, populated by teams of people who have done particularly well from maintaining the status quo of the last 45 years, does need to feel that it is under threat, because the reality is that the winds of change are blowing, and they are heading its way.
Spud pitched a piece to the FT which declined. They are therefore neoliberal – until he’s at war with Eastasia at least.
He’s not wrong, but the winds of change are not necessarily blowing in the direction he hopes.
Anyone might think that the FT is feeling a little worried. So it should be. It is one of the most prominent faces of the neoliberal capital movement, which is so very obviously failing that even in the USA people are now openly rejecting it because it is so clearly failing to meet people’s needs.
The deeply contented edifice that is the Financial Times, populated by teams of people who have done particularly well from maintaining the status quo of the last 45 years, does need to feel that it is under threat, because the reality is that the winds of change are blowing, and they are heading its way.
I think the FT is very much a Centre Left publication still within the realm of the real world. Much commentary on the Left, like Murphy (And basically any other MMT advocate) is existing in a parallel universe where you can print billions of your favoured currency without any impact – alongside belief in hundreds of Genders, personal pronouns and other nonsense – enforced by a rigid , totalitarian intolerance for dissent in these areas. A kind of ‘North Korea on the Fens’, for want of a better term.
In terms of the FT, it’s openly Europhile and in favour of One World government. Very much ‘on message’ with the need for DEI and the threat of Climate Change. Only in the most fevered imaginations could it be considered in any sense ‘neoliberal’
As I suggested in my discussion on Andy Burnham yesterday, (I posted the full piece for those with a strong constitution in the last Spud related piece) the chance of a major financial recession in the next three years is very high indeed. There is an ongoing war that is going to cause energy and food shortages. This autumn’s El Niño is likely to reinforce the impact on food, as will this summer’s droughts. And, as even the FT notes, the likelihood that there will be an AI crash is very high indeed.
As the man who has successfully predicted the last 45 potential financial collapses since 2008 you are bound to be right.The war’s likely impact alongside that of EL Nino is largely due to the following five policies/ causes:
So realistically you are directly supportive of 4 out of the 5 key causes of inflation. In that circumstance most people might exercise a degree of humility but it would appear such a personality trait is one you do not possess.
So, the question is, will the FT notice in advance, or will it, safe and secure as it feels itself to be at present, stay as it is until the tsunami of change that such a collapse might bring this time sweeps over it? To that question I have no answer except what historical precedent suggests, which is that those comfortable with their situation rarely, if ever, anticipate the change that will sweep their security away.
I actually agree with this to some extent – where I differ is that for me it’s likely that it’s the Extreme Left whose policies, as outlined by the great Steve are:
are the ones who are likely to be swept away – amongst whom we would almost certainly include the Sage of Ely.
The FT isn’t what it was but it looks like they’ve still got some sort of standards.
The pink paper has become considerably Pinker in the last few decades, hasn’t it?
Yup. Like the Economist, I stopped reading it in the 90s.
In the whole field, everything’s shifted online. There’s subreddits about shares, stuff about stocks, people doing YouTube interviews and reports.
The FT and The Economist are classic examples of the “blokes left, birds took over” that happens to every dying industry. Women love the status of running a little Cotswold bookshop, or being a vicar, or being a journalist.
… or three professors?
Er…where’s the status in running a Cotswold bookshop or being a (freelance?) journalist?
Within *their* Circles it allows for endless Virtue Signalling while Doing an Actual Economic Activity.
Which brings Status within their little worlds, which they, Gods Forbid!!, never leave if they have anything to say about it.
Outside of those little Worlds, an apprentice Binsman who shows up on time and does his/her bloody job as best they can given the Interference from the Powerskirts has a near infinity more Status and Prestige.
And might even be tossed a pint or two for A Job Well Done at the Local..
Within women, huge. Charming bookshops are a huge thing to middle class women. They combine the thing of tasteful spaces, with being able to pretend you’re intelligent and learned, even if you’re just reading Sally Rooney.
Owning a tasteful bookshop means you’re right up there. You even get articles like this describing it as a “dream job”
https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/dream-job-childrens-book-shop-manager-careers-book-lovers/343853
it’s not for blokes, because we don’t care about nice spaces so much. We like to run businesses because they do things, like making supercars. And because they make money.
Lots of women don’t have to make money. They have a man in their life that pays the bills.
High Streets in pleasant market towns, full of nice shops as a hobby for women. After a few years they close and another opens.
able to pretend you’re intelligent and learned, even if you’re just reading Sally Rooney.
Oooh, cruel but very, very fair.
Ah, the Ecommunist, what a fucking rag.
Talking of the FT, SWP has a piece up commenting on an ‘idiot’ article on there. The article basically says AI makes Gosplan work, which the Prof demolishes in his usual style.
The FT has been run by card carrying communists for years.
The Telegraph is run by the Comintern.
OT…. Burnham speech today, how can someone get the diagnosis so wrong? If that’s the starting point, this is not going to go well….
Burnham’s talent is to appear all things to all lefties. He’s a blank slate for them to project their wishes upon. Contradictory dog-whistles emanate from him, which are selectively heard by lefties with opposing requirements. To make this trick work he must adhere to lowest-common-denominator shibboleths including that Thatcher de-industrialised the UK and Brexit impoverished it.
And then, in the fullness of time, reality will catch him out, his spinning plates will fall, and disenchantment and the IMF will set in. It won’t take long.
Saw this last night, made me laugh
Since time value of money is reckoned to be around 5%…
Reports of FT’s demise are grossly exaggerated.
When I used to buy the Pink’un, I only ever looked the last five pages & did the crossword. Haven’t seen a copy for years. Is still the same?