> favored equality over efficiency
I think this is the wrong trade off. More equality does not necessarily mean less efficiency.
How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
21–30 of 145 posts
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think the average banker has a greater desire for self-enrichment than say, the average lawyer or the average sales manager. And anyway, there's nothing wrong with a certain amount of greediness in a capitalist system, this is what drives innovation and efficiency. The problem with banking has been that the system is broken. Unlike other companies, mismanaged banks cannot go bankrupt because they drag the ent…
> And anyway, there's nothing wrong with a certain amount of greediness in a capitalist system, this is what drives innovation and efficiency. I wonder how many years will pass before people realize this mantra is an article of faith.
The one example of innovation mentioned in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations came from a boy who wanted to go out and play with his friends.
(His job was to activate the release valve on an early steam engine. He rigged up a string to do that so he could play. James Watt incorporated this into his design.)
(Watt and Smith were contemporaries in Edinburgh. Not only that, but Smith arranged for Watt, who'd been driven from business by the blacksmith's union (the Hammermen), to have an appointment and facilities at the University of Edinburgh. I'm fairly convinced they shared drinks at the local pub and swapped war stories.)
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you think millenials being priced out of London as it became a global money laundering hub had anything to do with it? That's what I hear from my friends there.
Becoming a global money laundering hub like London is a wet dream of every major city on this planet. Plus, as the commenter below mentions, London mostly voted remain.
It may be the dream of owners of property in London but not those that rent there.
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#24I don't think the distinguishing characteristic of bankers is their desire for economic efficiency. It's their desire for self-enrichment. Maybe the author doesn't mean actual bankers , but is instead referring to central bankers, in which case I'd argue that the meager GDP growth achieved from an unprecedented expansion of central banking assets has been anything but efficient. Regardless, the fact that the author c…
I don't think the average banker has a greater desire for self-enrichment than say, the average lawyer or the average sales manager. And anyway, there's nothing wrong with a certain amount of greediness in a capitalist system, this is what drives innovation and efficiency. The problem with banking has been that the system is broken. Unlike other companies, mismanaged banks cannot go bankrupt because they drag the ent…
I was part of the banking system for many years - it is unbelievably greedy. There is no respect for individuals, other than how much money they can make. Concepts like loyalty and service have no meaning.
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#25> "Voters in large numbers have been rejecting much of the underlying logic behind a dynamic globalized economy that on paper seems to make the world much richer." That's a very different narrative than the one I recognise. From what I've seen the main effects of globalisation have been twofold: 1. Lowering prices by getting the working classes of all countries to compete with each other. 2. Giving multinational comp…
Exactly. The average citizen doesn't see much of the benefits of globalization. It mostly helps governments and companies.
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think the average banker has a greater desire for self-enrichment than say, the average lawyer or the average sales manager. And anyway, there's nothing wrong with a certain amount of greediness in a capitalist system, this is what drives innovation and efficiency. The problem with banking has been that the system is broken. Unlike other companies, mismanaged banks cannot go bankrupt because they drag the ent…
I was part of the banking system for many years - it is unbelievably greedy. There is no respect for individuals, other than how much money they can make. Concepts like loyalty and service have no meaning.
I was not denying that the banking system is greedy, I am saying that it is not more greedy than certain other branches.
I have been part of the banking system for quite a few years as well, and although there is some truth in what you are saying, I have experienced the same things elsewhere as well. For instance in certain IT consultancy firms.
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#27> "Voters in large numbers have been rejecting much of the underlying logic behind a dynamic globalized economy that on paper seems to make the world much richer." That's a very different narrative than the one I recognise. From what I've seen the main effects of globalisation have been twofold: 1. Lowering prices by getting the working classes of all countries to compete with each other. 2. Giving multinational comp…
Exactly. The average citizen doesn't see much of the benefits of globalization. It mostly helps governments and companies.
Tell that to my cheap phone made in China running an OS made by developers from around the world. My Turkish t-shirt, the Spanish tomatoes I ate this morning or the server I'm remotely setting up on the other side of the planet, so my company can sell their services there.
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#28Quote from OA "Voters in large numbers have been rejecting much of the underlying logic behind a dynamic globalized economy that on paper seems to make the world much richer." In the UK, we don't actually know why 17+ million chose to tick the leave box. My conversations with a handful of people who did vote leave suggest a range of reasons from immigration, through to 'loss of control'. Macroeconomic policy does not…
I guess it depends where you live.
In my part of the UK people were overwhelmingly in favour of leave. I wouldn't typically mention I was a remain voter as it was near sure to get me a discussion.
Very few claimed the immigration directly - t'was about jobs, or more precisely the lack of them, therefore immigration.
A good part of the region is not yet out of the 2008 recession, and house price growth is a joke. When you relatively recently had a well paying job with which you supported your family, yet now you're not making ends meet in a temporary delivery driver fake-freelance job, as that's all you can get despite skills, it's hard to see much logic in the "dynamic globalized economy".
Now then, I'd argue that for most in tht position, the social justice, work regulation and regional development funds of the EU would be something to heavily vote for. The EU, though, has always been appalling at making a case for itself - hence distant EU bureaucrats and other tropes.
Sadly, Boris's bullshit of £350m to the NHS and evil EU immigrants taking your jobs touched sore nerves and lead to the leave votes.
Now we get a government that looks like it will lurch heavily to the right, and as far as London and the tories are concerned, the regions can go f* themselves.
Turkeys voting for Christmas perhaps, but I do undertand the reasons why, least round these parts. I'd say the root cause goes all the way back to Thatcher and the loss of local industry, from which many towns have still not recovered.
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you think millenials being priced out of London as it became a global money laundering hub had anything to do with it? That's what I hear from my friends there.
Unlikely. If you look at the age breakdown of the vote, millenials and other assorted youngsters voted overwhelmingly for "Remain", while the older cohort voted for "Leave".
> If you look at the age breakdown of the vote
That's not the breakdown of the vote but of exit polls and other opt-in polling such as YouGov surveys. Both of which are biased towards those (1) likely to contribute and (2) not concerned about sharing how they voted.
The actual demographic composition of the vote is unknown, it could be determined ( all UK ballot papers are linked to their voter ) but that would be unprecedented and probably bad for democracy.
Re: How a Quest by Elites Is Driving ‘Brexit’ and Trump
#30Quote from OA "Voters in large numbers have been rejecting much of the underlying logic behind a dynamic globalized economy that on paper seems to make the world much richer." In the UK, we don't actually know why 17+ million chose to tick the leave box. My conversations with a handful of people who did vote leave suggest a range of reasons from immigration, through to 'loss of control'. Macroeconomic policy does not…
I guess it depends where you live. In my part of the UK people were overwhelmingly in favour of leave. I wouldn't typically mention I was a remain voter as it was near sure to get me a discussion. Very few claimed the immigration directly - t'was about jobs, or more precisely the lack of them, therefore immigration. A good part of the region is not yet out of the 2008 recession, and house price growth is a joke. When…
You can look more recently than that, the failed austerity experiment contributed to these conditions