"You were just too noisy, Oskar"

Chris Burford cburford at gn.apc.org
Wed Mar 24 16:10:25 PST 1999


I think the points below are an argument as to why Gordon Brown in marginally more marxist than Oskar Lafontaine. It is not marxist to ignore the balance of forces.

Chris Burford

London

At 12:49 24/03/99 -0500, you wrote:
>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
>
>
>



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