PANGLOSS IS BACK – BLACK IS WHITE AND WHITE
IS BLACK
On the same morning I hear on the BBC
from Theresa May that her internal struggle over Boris Johnson, her erstwhile
Foreign Secretary, is an example of teamwork at its most successful and
democratic, I read the following by Matthew Lynn in the Daily Telegraph (‘”Creative
destruction” of Monarch shows that the system is working’, October 3rd
2017) – re the collapse of Monarch Airlines this week:
The
important point is this, however: companies get into trouble, and their
fortunes rise and fall. They often go bust. It is a messy process. But that is
not an argument against free markets. It is an illustration of why they work so
well…
Sure,
there will be some short-term disruption when any company goes bust. Customers will
inevitably lose out, suppliers will suddenly find themselves in trouble, and
staff will have to look for a new job.
But
it is always important to remember that is how the system renews itself, and
why it works so well. True, it might not be much of a consolation to a couple
with a pair of toddlers stranded at an airport to know that they are taking
part in a process by which the economy moves forward. But it happens to be
true.
Dry your
eyes, kids. No holiday now, but don’t you see that you are taking part in a
process by which the economy moves forward? … Come off it, Spartacus! Don’t you
realise how vital slavery is to the Roman economy? … Bad luck they’ve decided to frack in your
back yard, Jim, but remember that the compulsory purchase order was necessary
if we are to keep up the momentum of a vibrant economy! … Come on, workers!
Stagnating wages for thirty years shows how well the system works!
On the same page the day before, chief
investment booster Roger Bootle wrote of ‘Labour twaddle’. If twaddle, it gets a
fair amount of competition from Matthew Lynn.
‘All is for the best in the best of
all possible worlds!’ – As Dr Pangloss kept reminding Candide.
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