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Leamington Letters #40: The Moody blues

25/2/2013

14 Comments

 
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Where's the beef?
For me, especially at this time of year, Triple A refers not to creditworthiness, but to minor league baseball in general and the Pawsox in particular. So one might assume that I have little interest in the shenanigans of international finance.

But I am fascinated by the news that, according to credit rating agency Moody’s, the economic unit that is Great Britain is less credit-worthy than the US sub-prime mortgage market in the halcyon days of the Bush administration.

Is this a problem? You wouldn't think so from the comments of the egregious Osborne, our Chancellor, who is pretty blasé about it all. 

At least, he is now.

It matters to me, and my family, and those I work with. But then, I’m no economist. The problem is, nor is George Osborne.

When Labour was in power, it was the imminence of a downgrading that drew his critical ire. His Tory manifesto claimed that “we will safeguard Britain’s credit rating with a credible plan etc etc”. When he took over as Chancellor, the retention of the AAA rating was down to him: “Britain is a safe haven. Our country’s credit rating has been affirmed” he boasted in July 2011.

So what now? Well, it would seem that he is determined to continue with the failing plan of Thatcherite free market economics, ragardless of the verdict of the 'free' market.

This despite the fact that, each day, the case for regulation and proper economic planning is being made anew as the press (an example in itself, of course) reports yet another flagrant example of the excesses of what Heath famously called “the unacceptable face of capitalism”.

There is no need to embark on another rant about bankers or the press or corporate tax avoiders. As my regular readers know, I’ve been there and done that. And right now, we have a more topical example, which is closer to the hearts of all us.

Our food.

As a restaurateur, I know how expensive good food is. I open the invoices from our suppliers and write the cheques each month. I was baffled by the minimal cost of meat in Tesco across the road from us. I had assumed, naïvely, that you get what you pay for: that if, for example, one wants premium steak (and our customers do), then one must pay a premium price; if one is content with inferior cuts, then one pays significantly less.

Now we know that we’re not merely discussing inferior cuts, we’re talking about different animals.

The free market in foodstuffs created a situation which is ripe for exploitation by fraudsters. And they were straight in there. Hey, that’s the free market.

Exactly how free is something that we shall doubtless discover at the end of yet another enquiry. But we know, for example, that the essence of the free market, banking, was not free at all.

It was rigged.

I found it impossible to believe that Diamond and Hester et al were not aware of the Libor fixing. And I find it hard to believe that the bosses of our great monolithic supermarket hegemony were not aware of the provenance of the meat on its shelves. 

In our restaurant, we know exactly where our beef comes from; we can track it back to the beast itself. Of course, one reason why this is so is that we care about it. We’re not philanthropists, but we do have priorities other than profitability. We care about the quality of our food, we care about the cooking of it, and we care about the way in which it is served.

But we’re one of those independents fighting against the tide. Because, as Dylan sang (and this is my less-than-seamless way of moving from Osborne to Dylan via baseball, Rick!):

“A lot of people don't have much food on their table. But they got a lot of forks 'n knives. And they got to cut somethin'.”

Take note, Osborne.

Today's listening: a lovely short set at Ash Grove from 1963. Jackie DeShannon accompanied by Ry Cooder. Reminds me of Beth and James, who are coming to dinner at Wilde's tonight.
14 Comments
James
25/2/2013 05:09:37

Spot on as ever Max. And prompted immediate action on my part. Not to man the barricades and bring down the man, unfortunately, but to watch Ry Cooder on YouTube all morning. Definitely time to buy shares in apathy.

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Max
26/2/2013 02:40:15

A morning well spent. And so, I can confirm, was your evening. Great set, thanks.

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Anders
25/2/2013 06:28:22

For some reason, I have always separated and distinguished finance and the workings of the economy. They seemed to be different and not related. But you're right. When Marx discussed the infinite ability of capitalism to re-invent itself, he didn't predict the disgraceful rigging of the markets. Marx was a believer in the free market: pure greed is something else.

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Max
26/2/2013 02:41:19

'Pure greed is something else." Is it?

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CJ
26/2/2013 00:13:12

How old was Ry Cooder in 1963?!

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Max
26/2/2013 02:39:10

According to Wikipedia, he was born in 1947. So how old he really was is anyone's guess. Maybe Wikipedia is right for once and he was sweet 16.

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myers
26/2/2013 00:50:29

Its official then and as I always suspected the latest (AA1) rating confirm the Treasury is run by a bunch of drunks!

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Max
26/2/2013 02:44:12

Ha! You're thinking of the George Brown days. (We thought they'd never end ... )

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Martin
27/2/2013 03:05:45

... on robbing us with a keyboard, if not a fountain pen. How welcome this reference to the first (and arguably fourth best) of all Dylan albums. I have just noticed the hint of menace in 'gotta cut something' that I had never really appreciated in the last 51 years. Perhaps the times really are a-changin' (arguably seventh best).

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Max
28/2/2013 10:20:25

Oh yes. Definitely a 'hint of menace' implicit. Fourth best? As you say, it is arguable. Xx

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Sean
28/2/2013 03:45:44

All I have to say is anyone who changes their name from Gideon to George as a schoolboy 'Because no one would vote for someone named Gideon to be Prime Minister' clearly came out of the womb a soul-less, blood-sucking leach. A better advert for revolution and on-the-spot executions has rarely been seen.

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Max
28/2/2013 10:23:53

I think there are better advertisements. But seldom have all the reasons been exemplified in a single person. He really does have no redeeming virtues at all, does he?

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Rick Hough
14/3/2013 22:00:57

Seamless? Let’s see . . . devaluation of credit rating, mealy-mouthing Chancellor, Libor, hawk-eyed restaurateur-ing , weasel purveyors, baseball and Dylan; sometimes the assemblage has no seams because it relies on the the function of elegant lightning, which you seem to have at your command.
Matt Taibbi’s piece on rogue banking and the Libor deviltry, from Rolling Stone a couple of issues back, is simultaneously fascinating and depressing but worth a peek.
But wait – Jackie DeShannon and Ry Cooder recording in 1963? In London? What?

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Max
16/3/2013 03:22:46

Thanks Rick. I'll check out the Taibbi piece. Jackie DeShannon and Ryan Cooder? In LA. although what Ms DeShannon was doing there at the time, I'm not sure. I have a suspicion, however, that had she been born 5 years later, she could have been a serious star.

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    Max Smith

    European writer, radical, restaurateur and Red Sox fan. 70-something husband, father, step-father, grandfather and son. Resident in Warwick, England.

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