‘Too big to fail’ they said. ‘It will never happen again’ they said. ‘Outrageous bonuses are a thing of the past’ they said. ‘Failure to support the banks would be catastrophic’ they said.
Well maybe, but what became clear yesterday was just how powerful these greedy gamblers have become. One fifth of the UK’s Gross National Product is created by the financial sector. In the face of hints, subtle and otherwise, our weak-kneed leaders caved in. They are now singing a very different tune.
This leaves us in even more of a mess. The ‘masters of the universe’ have been strengthened and further empowered by the bail-outs. Unelected, unaccountable and seemingly fire-proof. Our current politicians are incapable of reining them in. They threaten to walk away and in this internet-connected age, do their gambling elsewhere.
The UK cannot act unilaterally against the financiers and multi-national corporate greed machines but it can mobilise other nation states to act in unison. A long shot. The alternative is a two-tier world where the so-called democracies stand by enfeebled, emasculated and virtually powerless, while the plutocrats condescend to distribute their favours to fawning acolytes.
The effect of the climbdown will be to turn up the political heat in the UK. As cuts bite, as jobs go and as services wither, there will be justifiable rage against those who created the pain but who continue to gain. That rage will be turned on those who promised to curb the excesses but have singularly failed to deliver anything of significance.
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