It would seem to stand to reason that an Anglo Disease would be a disease originating in and/or mainly afflicting the English-speaking world and/or the English language's sphere of soft power.
- Jake Ceterum censeo Chicago esse delendam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo
The term Anglo is used as a prefix to indicate a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the phrases 'Anglo-Saxon', 'Anglo-American', 'Anglo-Celtic', and 'Anglo-Indian'. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to a person or people of English ethnicity in the The Americas, Australia and Southern Africa. It is also used, both in English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries, to refer to Anglophone people of other European origins. Anglo is a Late Latin prefix used to denote "English-" in conjunction with another toponym or demonym. The word is derived from Anglia, the Latin name for England, and still the modern name of its eastern region. Anglia and England both mean "Land of the Angles", a Germanic people originating in the north German peninsula of Angeln.
In the United States, Anglo refers to White Americans who are not of Hispanic or French descent.
I too originally assumed Jerome's uasge was in reference to the English speaking world. That would at least make more sense. But a lot of people outside the US and UK are native speakers of English. And a lot of native speakers of English would be confused to find they are effectively "Anglo." Like, say, African-Americans. Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
This is my first comment here, but I've lurked for a little while :). My understanding of the Anglo Disease concept is that it affects primarily the countries which share strong cultural and legal links with the US at this stage.
If the US is considered the epicentre of the disease (for obvious economic reasons), then the similar language, similar legal systems and strong political links favour the spread of the disease to countries such as the UK, Canada, Australia...
By contrast, the barrier to entry into other countries is higher precisely due to different legal, language and political realities, which affect the ability of companies to easily expand without changing their operating methods, which affect the ability of politicians to easily copy pieces of legislation from other countries, and which allow individuals to easily make business connections.
I also think the racial interpretation is really irrelevant, but not actually worth addressing in the terminology. Metaphorically, the Anglo(sphere) Disease (like many real diseases) is contagious, and is a strong hazard to anyone who lives within its economic reach, so it makes sense to label it by its cultural source. -- $E(X_t|F_s) = X_s,\quad t > s$
I hope you quit lurking for good! "Ne te courbe que pour aimer..." René Char
It addresses the circles of power in the US and the UK, regardless of ethnicity, as seen from non-English speaking countries (France, Germany Spain, Italy but also Russia, India, etc).
For USians, it may indeed have other meanings or even sound completely inadequate. But, well, this is not the first time words have different meanings on both sides of the pond. Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
