There are more than one way of looking at things, there’s the rational way and then we have the goofy Republican way.
Which way do you think this story is being, er, ‘spun’?
The 18-day revolt stopped new foreign investment and decimated the pivotal tourist industry. The annual growth slowed to less than 2 percent from a projected 5 percent, and Egypt’s hard currency reserves plunged 25 percent.
In a region where economic woes enraged an entire generation, whether and how Egypt can fix its broken economy will be a crucial factor in determining the revolution’s success. It could also influence the outcome of the revolts across the Arab region, where economic troubles are stirring fears of continued instability, authoritarian crackdowns, or even a backlash against what had appeared to be a turn toward Western-style market reforms.
“People are angry,” said Hassan Mahmoud, a resident of a slum near Cairo. He expected a better life after the revolution, he said, but instead he was laid off from his $10-a-day job in a souvenir factory. “People in the neighborhood are talking about going back to the streets for another revolution — a hunger revolution,” he said.
The NY Times article, er, ‘suggests’ that the ‘revolt’ that resulted in the ouster of US puppet Hosni Mumbarak ‘caused’ the current damaging drop off in ‘tourism’. You don’t suppose the fact that all of the would-be tourists are too broke to go pyramid gazing has anything to do with it, do you?
Again I will accuse the nitwits in charge of mis-management, fully aware they aren’t very likely to cop to charges of mass genocide, which is what we are really seeing.
Readers of this blog aside, the ‘typical’ US news consumer is (and remains) totally ignorant of the fact that what’s happening in Egypt is also taking place around the globe, including their own backyard!
Ironically, the same publication provides us with the proof of this claim!
No, the only real beneficiaries of Pain Caucus policies (aside from the Chinese government) are the rentiers: bankers and wealthy individuals with lots of bonds in their portfolios.
And that explains why creditor interests bulk so large in policy; not only is this the class that makes big campaign contributions, it’s the class that has personal access to policy makers — many of whom go to work for these people when they exit government through the revolving door. The process of influence doesn’t have to involve raw corruption (although that happens, too). All it requires is the tendency to assume that what’s good for the people you hang out with, the people who seem so impressive in meetings — hey, they’re rich, they’re smart, and they have great tailors — must be good for the economy as a whole.
But the reality is just the opposite: creditor-friendly policies are crippling the economy. This is a negative-sum game, in which the attempt to protect the rentiers from any losses is inflicting much larger losses on everyone else. And the only way to get a real recovery is to stop playing that game.
Um, I’d quibble with Mr. Krugman about the ‘smart’ remark; they won’t consider themselves particularly clever when they’re standing on a scaffold with a rope around their neck, having been convicted of treason.
As matters currently stand, this isn’t going to happen, we won’t see justice until we have, er, ‘similarly removed' the corrupt judges who failed to prosecute these criminals.
But then as I stated in the opening, ‘criminal’ is a matter of perspective, isn’t it?
What I engage in here could be, if you twisted it hard enough, turned into a criminal enterprise. I’m certain I violate the Patriot Act regularly, they just aren’t ready to start prosecuting dissidents ‘openly’…yet.
Depending on how your bent, politically, my accusations could be boiled down to the pot calling the kettle black.
And that’s the hell of it, it never changes. There are only a few slender degrees of separation between ideologies, which makes choosing the right one damn near impossible.
In the end it comes down to the ‘greater good’. A distinction often made by just who benefits from this noble goal.
Regardless of party affiliation, the ‘political class’ has sold itself to the corporatists, which means only the corporations (Now new and improved with ‘limited liability’) will reap the benefits of ‘commercial activity’. (Bizarrely, regardless of where this leads.)
For some reason there appears to be a severe degree of ‘cognitive dissonance’ concerning what constitutes a ‘healthy economy’.
Worse, there also exists a ‘failure to recognize’ when business practices have become ‘predatory’. (Which has proven an extremely useful in a system that provides zero legal remedy without significant personal cost.)
But I belabor the obvious when I point out that this is not ‘democracy’ by any stretch of the imagination!
It isn’t meant to work for you unless you’re wealthy enough to buy your way!
And guess what good citizen, the asshole who ripped you off so they had the money to buy politicians (yes, that’s how the rich get rich!) doesn’t have the same ‘interests/concerns’ as you do.
Worse, as of late they are no longer even interested in ‘throwing you a bone’.
Which is okay because when the time comes we should not be interested in displaying any ‘mercy’.
Um, that is why we’re going off the rails on the Crazy Train.
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
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