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I dont understand the thinking of British policy makers.

They see a problem created by policy and instead recommened MORE of the same to solve it. Its like using petrol to put out a fire!

Of course, the definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

by EvilEuropean (evileuropean@googlemail.com) on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 01:25:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, but when you have drunk so much neo-liberal kool-aid that you still think that the White House is a repository of widom and the only useful function for the British Government is to joyfully anticipate every whim of the US president, then it all makes so much sense.

It's the reason why the Labour party will get its backside kicked in the Crewe By-election tonight and will lose the next election, the irony being that the alternative is genuinely worse.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 02:05:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Could you supply any evidence that anyone in the Labour leadership actually believes "that the White House is a repository of widom [sic]" ?

Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner - that I moved to Nice.
by Ted Welch (tedwelch-at-mac-dot-com) on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 03:56:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Marketism is just like communism. It is always right. If reality doesn't match what the orthodoxy says, then reality is wrong.
by Francois in Paris on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 03:25:38 PM EST
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They are both axiomatic systems that assume their premises.  This allows both to make facile deductions that are favorable to their respective views of the world.  This is similar to Christian theology. This gives both a "feel" that makes them more plausible to their target audiences. Marxism has the advantage in internal coherence.  Liberal and Neo-Liberal Economics have the advantage in direct appeal to the vanity and self interest of the wealthy.  When adopted by governments, political entities or social organizations each spends considerable effort delegitimizing any criticism of the assumptions, which is where all axiomatic systems are most vulnerable. IMHO, in the US the similarities in axiomatic structure between fundamentalist Christian theology and Neo-Liberal Economics rallies fundamentalists to the support of Neo-Liberal Economics when it's axioms are attacked.  I suspect they have come to view the "Invisible Hand" as the Left Hand of God.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 04:11:29 PM EST
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Didn't Einstein also say "if experiment hadn't confirmed my theory I would have felt sorry for nature because my theory is correct"?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 04:30:30 PM EST
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Einstein had a sense of humor.
by Francois in Paris on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 04:42:51 PM EST
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EvilEuropean:
I dont understand the thinking of British policy makers.

Thinking?

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu May 22nd, 2008 at 05:23:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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