"You were just too noisy, Oskar"

[Carl Remick]

That's the New Statesman's take on Lafontaine's demise.  I found the
article -- by Christopher Huhne, a former business editor of the
Independent, who's now group managing director and chief economist at
the credit rating agency Fitch IBCA -- bleakly amusing.  Here's a
sample:

"Like other ministers, finance ministers need an ear for their political
constituencies. On this score, Lafontaine could not be faulted. He is
capable of partisan oratory that few others can rival. But a racy turn
of phrase with your supporters is not enough. Finance ministers also
need an ear for the financial markets. In anything other than a command
economy, they have to nurture what Keynes called the 'animal spirits' of
business people. They have to understand the greed and the fear that
motivates money, and respect its power. Failure to do so ultimately
spells political disaster - and few left-wing governments get a second
chance. This is not new, and it is nothing to do with globalisation. It
is as old as Leon Blum's 'Popular Front' and the early British Labour
governments."

The whole article can be found at
http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/199903190006.htm

Carl Remick