The gem:
the French should pay up for the benefits of Anglo Saxon capitalism, even if they won't practice it themselves.

For sure, the total decrepitude of the British energy industry is one of the great benefits of the Anglo-Saxon model!

By the way, we have already been (and still are) paying dearly to enrich the few ones who benefitted from the Anglo-Saxon capitalism..

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Sun Aug 3rd, 2008 at 08:27:11 AM EST
Rich!

By they way...

Now that EDF has been privatised (thanks to the French partly caving in to the dominant ideology), it is indeed its shareholders that benefit; thankfully that still mostly means the French government.

And a certain shareholder named monsieur Guillet... ;)


Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid (arvid.hallen at gmail.com) on Sun Aug 3rd, 2008 at 11:30:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Torygraph quote
Remember, there is no way a French government would even contemplate allowing a British company to buy similarly important Franco assets, whatever the industry.

Given the fact that we will sell, the French should pay up for the benefits of Anglo Saxon capitalism, even if they won't practice it themselves.

After all, it's Anglo-Saxon capitalism that destroys the power infrastructure and gives the possibility of hostage profits...

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Sun Aug 3rd, 2008 at 10:36:01 AM EST
We'd do well to remember that, when these boys are on top, they will talk tough about how the point of competition is that the smartest survive and the weak must go to the wall so the system remains efficient. But when they're in the shit, they invent a special premium due for "the benefits of Anglo-Saxon capitalism".

Perhaps that could come with a medal. Or a poney.

From a commenter:

British Energy investors right not to rush into a bad deal - Telegraph

The evil state-run EDF delivers the cheapest electricity, complete energy independence for our electricity at least, with an excellent track record in security and reliability.
Pray tell, what are "the benefits of Anglo Saxon capitalism"? Enron? The subprime mortgage crisis? The decrepit rail infrastructure in the UK?
Are you for real?
Posted by Nicolas MONNET
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Aug 3rd, 2008 at 01:23:33 PM EST
Well, this commenter would be a eurotrib reader whose login name begins with "nic". :)

A 'centrist' is someone who's neither on the left, nor on the left.
by nicta (nico@altiva․fr) on Sun Aug 3rd, 2008 at 01:55:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Heh! Good comment, nic...!
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Aug 3rd, 2008 at 03:15:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
One of your best ever, Jerome.  It deserves to make the op ed page of the FT etc.  Please submit.

No wonder I'm looking for the crahs to happen; it's not schadenfreude, it's the desperate need for these people to be wiped out by reality from dominating the bullypulprit and poisoning public discourse with their ideology while their friends steal and steal and break and break.

Unfortunately, I´m not sure it happens this way.  Capitañlism needs periodic crises to soften up the populace for ever more extreme measures - higher prices (to reduce demand - not increase profits - you understand).  When the brown-outs do start you can expect carte blanche for inexperienced "entrepreneurs" to move in and take over the industry.

I was once fortunate enough to lead a really innovative and advanced team in a particular field of technology in a global business.  We had a track record of successfully implementing this technology in subsidiaries - but not yet in head office.  I made a play to have our technology accepted as the global standard to be implemented in head office as well.

A technology "strategist" who had an office next to the relevant main board direct produced a powerpoint presentation promising similar benefits (having seen our solution) with a totally untried (and as yet non-existent) technology.  His "solution" was declared the corporate standard.  

It was never implemnted, but that was not the point.  He got millions of ponds for a ridiculous project with only a tenuous chance of success.  Capitañism is really an old boys club which is about favouring OUR people/shareholders and not THEIRS - especially the French.

Any focus on actually producing something useful is actually rather boring and counter-productive - I was gobsmacked that powerpoint vapourware could be favoured over a proven production solution with actually delivered superior capabilitities.

But I got it wrong.  I should have produced a fancier powerpoint presentation, asked for a lot more money, and gotten an office next to the relevant Director.  I wasn´t in the club.  And neither is EDF.


"It's a mystery to me - the game commences, For the usual fee - plus expenses, Confidential information - it's in my diary..."

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot dotty communists) on Mon Aug 4th, 2008 at 05:07:21 AM EST
I agree with your pessimism, Frank. But the experience you relate could happen (and is regularly happening) in any big hierarchical organisation, be it a corporation, a state administration, a municipality or a non-profit organisation, a political party or even a trade union. It has to do with the dominant model of power in our societies, not with capitalism.

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
by Melanchthon on Mon Aug 4th, 2008 at 05:57:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]
but this is unlikely to be good LTE material, given that it's a 'fisking' of a Torygraph Op-Ed.

As to 'being part of the club', I don't think it matters much here, as reality asserts itself. The irony is that the shareholders might still be vindicated: for instance, if there are brownouts in the UK, turning into a major political crisis, and the government ends up making expensive promises to ensure immediate investment, power prices would jump and then remain high, giving BE more value for its residual production (and you'll have yet more crowing about how government is incompetent...). On the other hand, a crisis might also force the UK government to sell at any price to whoever will take the damn company off their hands, which might mean a lower price.

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

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon Aug 4th, 2008 at 09:43:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The article is myopic and deluded, as can be expected from the torygraph, but that still does not justify

  1. additional, multinational, anti-competitive conglomeration,
  2. even if it is French, because
  3. the consumer always loses

a. in individual 'power' vs. a giant,
b. in jobs and
c. in price.

IMBiasedO, there is no Goliath deserving an altar, much less my support.

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Fri Aug 8th, 2008 at 11:32:55 AM EST

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