In 1937 Sir John Betjeman, the famous English poet had written a poem in protest of the ills of industrialization on the occasion of plans for new factories to be built in Slough (near London). The poem began:
Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough,
It isn’t fit for humans now
There isn’t grass to graze a cow
Swarm over Death!
(To see the whole poem click here. It is worth it.)
Apparently he, or his daughter, later apologized, because presumably industrialization was now ‘a good thing’. Nevertheless it is quite an indictment of the greed and profiteering at the expense of a decent, healthy way of life. This is a poem. Not an economic analysis. Nevertheless, it seems to me to be rather more apt today than it was in 1937, only this time it could begin:
Come friendly bombs and fall on Brussels,
It’s only fit for silly tussles
There for Fraus to flex their muscles,
A perversion and a travesty
Of all that it was supposed to be.
Forgive the doggerel, but being reduced to nonsense verse is better than being reduced to tears of despair over how European affairs are continuing to be so mismanaged.
To be fair, I should comment on the fact that the ECB has finally agreed to some kind of Quantative Easing, though they wont call it that of course. The ECB will make a trillion euro in new money available to European banks to enhance liquidity. Yet another instance of The Frau back tracking on her intractable Nien! vetoes? Another typically European case of too little too late?
We shall have to wait and see. The last time around when 500 billion euros were lent to the banks at 1%, said banks re -deposited most of it back at the ECB for a quick and easy profit at the expense of the much needed liquidity. Will this time be different?
Don’t hold your breath.