March 11th - The International Economy

Now this really is difficult to fathom out.  If I was going to lose heart and begin to think that perhaps a simple answer is going to elude me then this is where I am likely to fall by the wayside ….  But I’ll soldier on.  All I can say is that when looking for a simple explanation of what’s going wrong in our world there are aspects of the world economy that are beyond me.  On this I suspect I am not alone!

What I have gathered is:

• The population of the entire planet is at the mercy of the international economy whose workings go up and down spreading misery and social unrest worldwide.
• If you want to get seriously rich then venture into the the world of ‘finance’
• Very few people understand what’s going on.  John Lanchester[1] who, in his book ‘Whoops’ did a stirling job in helping me to understand something of the workings of international money, suggested that economics has become very difficult to understand, even for the vast majority of very intelligent people – so I’m in good company

 If our survival as a species on planet Earth depends on us understanding international economics then I really do fear for the future!

News Flash - Just found out that John Lanchester has this month published a novel called 'Capital' set in post crash London. I'll read that.  A novel is often a good way to get insight into what's going on if its written by someone who knows what they are talking about.  See You Tube if you'd like to find out more ... http://www.faber.co.uk/catalog/capital/9780571234622
 

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[1] John Lanchester: WHOOPS:  Why everyone owes everyone and no-one can pay

 

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