Will Hutton and degenerate Britain: a manifesto for Brown (fat chance)

Will Hutton has penned what can only be described as an eloquent and rational rant in today’s Observer about the irrationalities of the the world’s financial markets – it’s short and well worth a read. The essence of his argument is that governments are so in awe of the importance of the financial services industry that they have been willing to bend over backwards to sustain the system – central banks pumping in billions of Euros. Further, the UK government has not uttered a squeak while Merkel and Sarkozy have raised the issue of whether standards and openness of hedge funds should somehow be introduced. Hutton ends with an appeal – if this system is so sick, then who is making some appeal to change it? What a manifesto that would be for Labour and Gordon Brown in a snap autumn 2007 election – make something of the UK’s banking wealth for the general population, and make the industry more open and accountable. Fat chance of Brown doing that though.