Paul Isles: "the return of empire and entrepreneurship".
You may interpret this as Globalisation and Speculation, earning the quick buck on a package of toxic investments that are destined to backfire, but cashing in the top salary and the massive yearly bonus.
While trying to keep to the spirit of this thread, which presumably highlights the lack of money to finance a justice-based system, and somehow latching onto Paul Isles view, I'd put it this way:
hitherto, it was planned and believed that speculation, bank-driven and fueled by large corporations and by "globalisation", would steadily bring in revenues, together with a yearly interest rate.
Unemployment meant little or nothing, as Society would have assured revenues from fictitious financial investments.
Pension funds, schemes, shares, whatever-funds....would just bring in assured revenue, and guarantee a salary and a whopping bonus to the financial operators.
Houses would rise in value 3-times the rate of inflation, along with rent. Never mind first-time buyers (fatal mistake to the system - bound to backfire).
Now that all this is collapsing and crashing starting as of 2008, Society will grasp that:
1) the nested eggs have gone foul and won't hatch.
2) the unemployed have come back to roost, and can't bring in a revenue to Society, which, however, has seen its perceived future revenues forfeited, these having been imagined as being infallible and coming from speculation, property scams (Spain, Ireland), debt bubbles and the whole humpty-dum-noodle of the paper-economy.
3) State debt and private debt are steadily becoming the harvest of Society, while toxic investments lie in tatters on the floor inside banks, and people queue up at the cash-points to save whatever they can from confiscation.
Have a nice day, folks!
