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One of the senior EU guys present at the conference told me I had to drop my ideological blinders.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 03:22:00 AM EST
Pinko subversive!
by Solveig (link2ageataol.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 03:47:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah! Don't you know you're supposed to believe in the market, not economic theory?
by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 04:27:33 AM EST
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Now I happen to believe in the market - just not in a market which operates for the profit of "Rentiers".

"Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 04:43:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, sometimes the house of cards works well enough long enough I think, but you have to be pragmatic about it. Energy liberalisation can only work if the innate tendency towards monopolisation on a network-bound market can be overcome somehow, which for energy is quite difficult (and why the Commission wants to have decoupling done, but I don't know if that will work well enough, it was also done in California, IIRC).

Then you'd have a functioning market, but even a functioning energy market would tend to have perverse preferences, due to the higher discount rates used by companies to evaluate investment, which creates a bias towards higher running costs away from higher front-up investment, and due to the fact that the external effects of pollution are not fully internalised.

by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 08:51:21 AM EST
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I consider myself a centrist socialist, or social liberal - and many here on the site probably think the same about me.

We have to find ways not to be labelled extremist. One way is to clearly claim the center; the other, I suppose, is to also proudly wear labels that are being painted as extremist (like "socialist") and to stick by our ideas unashamedly.

So yes, I'm a pinko subversive, if that's what they want to call it, and proud of it.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 04:47:24 AM EST
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It seems the closer one gets to government power, the narrower and more rightwing the Overton window is. I mean, a social liberal is pretty much at the center of the public discourse, in France ; but that is apparently too left wing for the EU. Jospin lost his election in 2002 for not being lefty enough, yet his was the government the furthest to the left in the OECD.

The thing is, "they" define the center ; and have pulled it so far to what is traditionally right wing that it is almost impossible to claim the center with any kind of left wing proposals. In France, Bayrou's strongly liberal program can pass as "a bit to the left of the center".

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 05:48:48 AM EST
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The really amazing thing is that you are an expert on project finance and they are telling you to drop your ideological blinders when you make them an argument about the impact of policy choices on the financing of energy projects and the impact that has on their policy objectives.

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 06:00:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
We have to find ways not to be labelled extremist.

No, we have to make sure that everyone understands who the extremists really are.

It's an interesting accusation and one of many that's going to be used to attack the person and not deal with the issue.

The point to remember is that empirically, we're right and they're wrong. If they want to argue with reality that's their prerogative, but challenging market-speak is the only rational reality-based position in the room.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 06:54:09 AM EST
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Did you tell him "likewise" or "after you, sir"?

Can the last politician to go out the revolving door please turn the lights off?
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 04:54:18 AM EST
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I gave him again the "jobs programme for bankers and rightwing politicians" line. I told him the French government had capitulated to the City. He told me he hated the City (and the sad thing is that, as he was British, that was probably true - he's probably spending a lot of time pushing back against the incessant tide from over there).

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Fri Jun 29th, 2007 at 06:17:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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