The Brown Stuff

They say that when the brown stuff hits the fan, we'll all get covered. Without a doubt, the media each day uncovers more of the mess that the banks and finances are in. We now learn that our prime minister has pledged even more Treasury money to help stimulate the banks into mutual trust and trade - which suggests to me that he and his darling henchman had no idea how much trouble the banks were in when this problem started. Is it that they weren't told? Or was it that the banks painted a false picture of their financial position? Or perhaps it was because the picture has steadily worsened since then? - I don't know, but it's apparent that what started out as a pustule has changed into a boil, which in turn has turned into an abcess. Septicaemia beckons.

But what else could Brown do but mortgage taxpayers' money for years to come? If he were to let the banks rot, the social repercussions would be enormous and far-reaching. The vision of starving and dispossessed pensioners with worthless savings isn't one that any prime minister would welcome. It wouldn't reflect well on him or his reputation if he were to take the Marie Antoinette stance and let them eat cake.  As unemployment and poverty increase, the potential for civil and political unrest lurks like a ruffian on the stair.

So what's likely to happen? Given that this is a global financial crisis (in my view one that has been encouraged, if not engineered) that started over the pond, it is one that will require global solutions. This would be a step in the direction of a centrally-controlled global economic system to be universally imposed as the panacea of all these ills. This may well be Obama's brief; he happens to be the most left-wing president of the United States ever to be elected. This in turn would lead to co-ordinated political control, since politicians always dance to the tune of their financial masters. Orwell wasn't wide of the mark. When the brown stuff hits the fan, we'll all be covered.