This is not the first time Balenciaga has exploited the aesthetics of children. Credit: OLIVIA TSANG/South China Morning Post via Getty Images
It’s always difficult to decide what to buy the toddler in your life for Christmas. A handbag shaped like a teddy dressed in BDSM gear, perhaps? Or a dog collar and lead? In a new ad campaign for the fashion house Balenciaga — now withdrawn and the subject of a lawsuit by the brand against the set designer — lonely and disassociated-looking infants stare vacantly into the camera, surrounded by an array of distinctly unchildlike objects, each with a fetish teddy bag lurking queasily nearby. The vibe is hardly festive.
Recently, the label has made multiple forays into the gothic, not least by mining the aesthetics of climate collapse for several recent shows. (As one women’s magazine enthused: “Balenciaga brought the apocalypse to Paris and we’re here for it.”) So perhaps brand managers expected the disturbing imagery of young kids surrounded by bondage gear to be treated as just another subversive juxtaposition in the service of selling things. This time, however, the bourgeois were not so much thrillingly épaté as absolutely bloody incandescent — because they assumed that childhood itself was being sold.
Internet sleuths quickly tracked down details of an earlier Balenciaga campaign, in which background props had included a Supreme Court ruling on the illegality of child pornography, as well as a book by an artist controversial for depicting tortured children in his work. The two separate campaigns were quickly conflated by commentators, jointly presented as a case of paedophilic imagery gloating lasciviously in plain sight. Some observers went further, interpreting the placing of lettered packing tape in the most recent campaign as spelling out a reference to Baal, the Canaanite god who demanded child sacrifices.
In some quarters of the populist Right, where the legacy of QAnon still looms large, Christmas had come early. Tucker Carlson weighed in, bravely putting his own history of joking about child rape behind him, to connect the incident to groomer discourse and admonish the world to “stop sexualising kids”. Creepy geezer-bro Andrew Tate argued that Balenciaga was being deliberately open and explicit about paedophilic sympathies because the “people who are in charge of these brands, and of the Western world” are “Satanists” who deliberately “tell you what they are doing” in order to avoid karmic retribution for their sins. (Any reflection by Tate on earlier frank admissions of his that “I am absolutely sexist and I’m absolutely a misogynist” went unrecorded.)
Though — of course — I don’t know the truth of what actually happened at Balenciaga, it seems to me that the “deliberately paedophilic” interpretation is probably wrong. But that doesn’t mean the whole thing was an accident. As others have suggested, rather than acting as a direct manifestation of a paedophile conspiracy, it seems more likely that the campaigns were offering knowing nods to the aesthetics of paedophile conspiracies. Viewed in this light, the problem is not so much the imagery but that the proles on the internet hadn’t done a Masters in Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths.
This interpretation is in keeping with the modus operandi of high fashion. The higher the couture, and the more luxurious the brand, the more effort must be made to signal this status to the world. One traditional way to do this is by using hand-embroidered silks and other gorgeous fabrics to make clothes. But a reality-transcending brand image can also be achieved by dressing women up in totally impractical garments they can’t walk or get through doors in, or — as Balenciaga also recently did — by inducing a celebrity such as Kim Kardashian to wear ridiculous facemasks in public on a number of occasions.
As Louise Perry has argued, fears about paedophilia are often viewed by liberals as classically low-status, and associated by them with the “ignorant and credulous working classes”. And so, ironically sneering about low-status cultural fears about paedophiles, in a way only detectable to a few knowing onlookers, is automatically high-status. Job done. Or it would have been, had it not proved understandably impossible for most onlookers to tell the difference between representation and reality.
As with Balenciaga’s attraction to the gothic, the fashion world more generally has long played about with savagery and psychic darkness for the purposes of selling people things they don’t need. In practice this often means glamourising various terrible things done to women. Alexander McQueen’s first two (visually stunning) collections were called “Jack the Ripper and his Victims” and “The Highland Rapes”. A 2007 Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign was highly suggestive of gang rape, and a 2003 Sisley campaign of bestiality between a woman and a bull.
Generally speaking, the fashion industry is littered with pictures of young women with a sexualised, exploited, fetishised, or downright quasi-paedophilic vibe. And female consumers apparently lap it up — perhaps because they tell themselves, accurately, that promoting abusive sex is not the direct point. As with everything else in the fashion world, nothing is positively asserted, but only referred to obliquely or quoted in order to generate interest in the clothes.
Yet when you look at some of the blank-eyed skeletal young models who still tend to be preferred by designers, it’s impossible to maintain that the casual brutality dished out to women in the representational realm of fashion doesn’t have consequences for the real one. Models are treated by the fashion world as living dolls you can pick from a book purely on the basis of appearance, then dress them up, choose their poses, control their food intake, and fly them around the world to serve you, until you don’t want them anymore. Granted, not every model is skinny or young these days, but even those who aren’t are just as heavily objectified — every personalised aspect of them being diminished to a commercially favourable appearance, interchangeable with some other commercially favourable appearance, should the originally-booked girl have a breakdown or get a breakout.
But at least most models are adults, technically anyway. For me, an under-explored aspect of the Balenciaga scandal is the apparent fact that parents somewhere have let their very young children be photographed in these campaigns. It is bad enough to represent grown adults as slack-jawed, vacant children, but a lot worse to turn children into slack-jawed, vacant little adults. Generally speaking, I marvel in horror at parents who use their children to make money by modelling or acting in adverts. No matter how much fun children allegedly have doing it, or how much money goes into their trust funds because of it, there is nothing about having one’s appearance objectified by strangers for money that’s compatible with healthy childhood development.
And of course, it’s not just commercial modelling. Famous for admonishing us against using other humans as mere means to our ends, Kant also warned that “parents cannot regard their child as, in a manner, a thing of their own making”. Then again, he wasn’t on Insta. The internet is full of influencers using their own children for likes and clicks. If social media has turned many of us into narcissists, then it seems to have turned our children into narcissistic extensions of ourselves — only there to say something flattering about who we are. A generation of kids are growing up, made supremely conscious of how their bodies and faces look as they go about their daily lives, before they really know anything else about themselves. And we made them that way.
Moral panics get off the ground partly because they pick up on unconscious forces genuinely rippling through a culture. It doesn’t seem to me a coincidence that there’s increasing prurient interest in paedophilia and grooming at the moment, when at the same time there have never been so many culturally acceptable ways to objectify your own child. Paedophilia — which of course exists, and nobody should pretend different — involves the egregious and permanently life-changing treatment of a living human child as a sexual object. But there are subtler ways to use children as means to adult ends. We can sign them up to a modelling agency. We can put them in a beauty pageant. We can upload their pictures with amusing captions on Facebook, in a way that makes us look like good parents.
So the original fear about Balenciaga — that they are selling kids — was perhaps not entirely wrong. If not kids, then collectively we are at least selling childhoods. And the hideous teddy bear fetish bags highlighted in the doomed ad campaign now seem to me to be an uncannily apt symbol of what we are doing. A much-beloved figure, originally invested with so much innocence, joy, and love, now turned into something to be used.
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SubscribeExcellent. The Bank of England has failed miserably to create stable normal conditions for the UK economy. Mr QE Zero Interest Net Zero ESG BS Carney as much as the hapless one eyed Nelsonian present Governor (I see no inflation risk…in an economy shutdown for 2 years!!!!!) Is responsible for the impending inevitable crash. For him to blame Brexit paperwork for the cost of lockdown inflation shows he is more interested in spouting Remainiac derangement groupthink than the truth.
Excellent. The Bank of England has failed miserably to create stable normal conditions for the UK economy. Mr QE Zero Interest Net Zero ESG BS Carney as much as the hapless one eyed Nelsonian present Governor (I see no inflation risk…in an economy shutdown for 2 years!!!!!) Is responsible for the impending inevitable crash. For him to blame Brexit paperwork for the cost of lockdown inflation shows he is more interested in spouting Remainiac derangement groupthink than the truth.
Why do people still listen to Carney? He epitomizes the incompetence of the ruling elite driving the west into oblivion. He has all the check marks, all the letters behind his name, all the right connections to very important people, but he lacks the analytical tools and vision to see the consequences of his policies. His hysterical ramblings about climate change have helped entrench net zero policies, which are the root cause of the energy crisis in Europe today.
Why do people still listen to Carney? He epitomizes the incompetence of the ruling elite driving the west into oblivion. He has all the check marks, all the letters behind his name, all the right connections to very important people, but he lacks the analytical tools and vision to see the consequences of his policies. His hysterical ramblings about climate change have helped entrench net zero policies, which are the root cause of the energy crisis in Europe today.
The Bank of England was given independence and a mandate to keep inflation at around 2% p.a. on the basis that monetary policy could control inflation and deliver that target. Yet when inflation surges over the target for a period of (at least) several years, the BoE and its apologists blame everything other than their monetary policy for that inflation – supply chain bottlenecks, war in Ukraine, pay claims by greedy workers, too little immigration, Brexit, and so on. Either the BoE can control inflation over the medium term – through interest rates, Quantitative Easing and Quantitative Tightening – or it cannot. If it can’t, it should hand responsibility, and accountability, for interest rate policy and inflation control back to the elected government. As it is, the BoE has power without responsibility – pursuing a low interest rate and very loose monetary policy with profound political and social justice consequences, but shirking accountability for the inflation which they were warned – but denied – would result.
The Bank of England was given independence and a mandate to keep inflation at around 2% p.a. on the basis that monetary policy could control inflation and deliver that target. Yet when inflation surges over the target for a period of (at least) several years, the BoE and its apologists blame everything other than their monetary policy for that inflation – supply chain bottlenecks, war in Ukraine, pay claims by greedy workers, too little immigration, Brexit, and so on. Either the BoE can control inflation over the medium term – through interest rates, Quantitative Easing and Quantitative Tightening – or it cannot. If it can’t, it should hand responsibility, and accountability, for interest rate policy and inflation control back to the elected government. As it is, the BoE has power without responsibility – pursuing a low interest rate and very loose monetary policy with profound political and social justice consequences, but shirking accountability for the inflation which they were warned – but denied – would result.
This man is quite frankly a moron.
You’d think he’d never heard of Milton Friedman: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output”.
Guess who was in charge of the quantity of money.
Guess who consistently failed to meet their 2% inflation target (“you only had one job …”).
Or is he yet another of those people who will claim that they were “present, but not involved” ?
MIlton Friedman overstated things with this. While most inflation is caused by monetary policy, i.e. things now cost more because the value of your money has declined, because I’ve been increasing the money supply, it is possible to have inflation where things cost more because there is a shortage of the raw materials, etc. you need to make them. Until somebody comes along with a new supply at a reasonable price. prices will remain high. No amount of futzing around with the interest rates, money suppy, etc will help matters. Now, usually this sort of inflation hits one sector of the economy but all the rest continue on their merry way. If there is a big copper shortage then many things will get more expensive, but most things will not, and people will just do without the copper-needed things until the supply improves. But energy is the real exception. If things are getting more expensive because the energy it takes to make things is more expensive, then this will crush all sectors of the economy because everybody needs energy.
Build nukes.
If money supply is maintained in equilibrium, if the cost of some things increase because of a shortage of raw materials etc, then demand for other things will decline (because there will be less money available to spend on them) and prices for those things should also decline, reducing inflationary pressures. If there has been a massive increase in money supply, and an increase in the savings ratio because people were locked up, then those offsetting reductions will not occur.
It’s remarkable how stuck the prices of those ‘other things in decline’ often are. Reduced demand should make the sellers lower their prices, but some of them are already pricing things as low as they can. So instead they _raise_ prices, by a whole lot, hoping that there are a very, very few buyers who have to have what they are selling at any price, and that this tiny section of their former mass market can pay for them to survive the storm. Sometimes this works. Mostly it doesn’t, and the firm goes bankrupt. But neither of these outcomes has a positive effect on inflation.
It’s remarkable how stuck the prices of those ‘other things in decline’ often are. Reduced demand should make the sellers lower their prices, but some of them are already pricing things as low as they can. So instead they _raise_ prices, by a whole lot, hoping that there are a very, very few buyers who have to have what they are selling at any price, and that this tiny section of their former mass market can pay for them to survive the storm. Sometimes this works. Mostly it doesn’t, and the firm goes bankrupt. But neither of these outcomes has a positive effect on inflation.
I agree there are other factors. But money supply – and the price of money (interest rates) was the thing directly under Carney’s control.
You’re correct that he also lobbied for higher energy prices. And continues to do so. Utter madness.
Assume you mean build nuclear power stations. Fully on board with that. Though I’d rather we come up with our own designs and industry here (as we used to – we invented them after all) and stopped the idiotic policy of buying one off reactors from the French or Chinese.
Carney’s clearly part of the problem and not part of the solution.
Yes, I meant building more power stations.
Energy self-sufficiency is the only way to isolate yourself from the sort of inflation caused by the price of energy.
You would think that there would be one ambitious politician able to make this argument, and campaign on ‘Never again will we be subject to this sort of inflation! Here is the plan and I will make this one work!’
In Sweden, as well, there was much talk of the 85% of us who want more nuclear plants vs the government who won’t give us them, but while the new government claims to be working on a new plan we still haven’t seen it. But this time Swedish industry is unlikely to give them a break. you see there is this new Swedish way to make steel. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/19/green-steel-swedish-company-ships-first-batch-made-without-using-coal
But it needs lots of energy. When a commission last winter asked the question ‘but who would use the energy we would produce with a new nuclear plant’ they expected ‘we will sell it to the Germans and Danes.’ Instead they got _all_ the big industries — and Sweden hasn’t de-industrialised — and the military saying ‘me, me, I want some!’
Yes, I meant building more power stations.
Energy self-sufficiency is the only way to isolate yourself from the sort of inflation caused by the price of energy.
You would think that there would be one ambitious politician able to make this argument, and campaign on ‘Never again will we be subject to this sort of inflation! Here is the plan and I will make this one work!’
In Sweden, as well, there was much talk of the 85% of us who want more nuclear plants vs the government who won’t give us them, but while the new government claims to be working on a new plan we still haven’t seen it. But this time Swedish industry is unlikely to give them a break. you see there is this new Swedish way to make steel. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/19/green-steel-swedish-company-ships-first-batch-made-without-using-coal
But it needs lots of energy. When a commission last winter asked the question ‘but who would use the energy we would produce with a new nuclear plant’ they expected ‘we will sell it to the Germans and Danes.’ Instead they got _all_ the big industries — and Sweden hasn’t de-industrialised — and the military saying ‘me, me, I want some!’
If money supply is maintained in equilibrium, if the cost of some things increase because of a shortage of raw materials etc, then demand for other things will decline (because there will be less money available to spend on them) and prices for those things should also decline, reducing inflationary pressures. If there has been a massive increase in money supply, and an increase in the savings ratio because people were locked up, then those offsetting reductions will not occur.
I agree there are other factors. But money supply – and the price of money (interest rates) was the thing directly under Carney’s control.
You’re correct that he also lobbied for higher energy prices. And continues to do so. Utter madness.
Assume you mean build nuclear power stations. Fully on board with that. Though I’d rather we come up with our own designs and industry here (as we used to – we invented them after all) and stopped the idiotic policy of buying one off reactors from the French or Chinese.
Carney’s clearly part of the problem and not part of the solution.
MIlton Friedman overstated things with this. While most inflation is caused by monetary policy, i.e. things now cost more because the value of your money has declined, because I’ve been increasing the money supply, it is possible to have inflation where things cost more because there is a shortage of the raw materials, etc. you need to make them. Until somebody comes along with a new supply at a reasonable price. prices will remain high. No amount of futzing around with the interest rates, money suppy, etc will help matters. Now, usually this sort of inflation hits one sector of the economy but all the rest continue on their merry way. If there is a big copper shortage then many things will get more expensive, but most things will not, and people will just do without the copper-needed things until the supply improves. But energy is the real exception. If things are getting more expensive because the energy it takes to make things is more expensive, then this will crush all sectors of the economy because everybody needs energy.
Build nukes.
This man is quite frankly a moron.
You’d think he’d never heard of Milton Friedman: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output”.
Guess who was in charge of the quantity of money.
Guess who consistently failed to meet their 2% inflation target (“you only had one job …”).
Or is he yet another of those people who will claim that they were “present, but not involved” ?
A carnie, or carny, is a term for a worker at a travelling amusement show. They were suspected of lacking in certain character traits. It is also, apparently, British slang for coax or cajole.
Why the English would import ( the eponymous? ) Mark Carney to run their monetary policy is beyond me, though we Canadians ought to have been grateful, since he was no longer running ours. I had his measure when he began muttering about the large cash balances Canadian corporations were holding their balance sheets in 2010, as if they preferred to earn bupkis on those balances rather than invest it, and as if it were any of his business.
Rumour has it that he might be in line to succeed His High Wokeness, the Dauphin of Sunny Ways ( that would be Trudeau ), so that he could do to us with fiscal policy what he has already done with monetary policy.
Anything you can do there to keep his show on the road and us out of harm’s way would be appreciated.
A carnie, or carny, is a term for a worker at a travelling amusement show. They were suspected of lacking in certain character traits. It is also, apparently, British slang for coax or cajole.
Why the English would import ( the eponymous? ) Mark Carney to run their monetary policy is beyond me, though we Canadians ought to have been grateful, since he was no longer running ours. I had his measure when he began muttering about the large cash balances Canadian corporations were holding their balance sheets in 2010, as if they preferred to earn bupkis on those balances rather than invest it, and as if it were any of his business.
Rumour has it that he might be in line to succeed His High Wokeness, the Dauphin of Sunny Ways ( that would be Trudeau ), so that he could do to us with fiscal policy what he has already done with monetary policy.
Anything you can do there to keep his show on the road and us out of harm’s way would be appreciated.
Good post. Carney exemplifies the bizarre combination of extreme arrogance and utter incompetence that seems increasingly to characterise the self-selected global apparatchiki. It’s an affront that his opinions are still sought by the media after the damage he has done.
On that basis would you concur we’d be blessed to now hear nought too from Bojo or Farage?
What damage has Farage done?
What damage has Farage done?
On that basis would you concur we’d be blessed to now hear nought too from Bojo or Farage?
Good post. Carney exemplifies the bizarre combination of extreme arrogance and utter incompetence that seems increasingly to characterise the self-selected global apparatchiki. It’s an affront that his opinions are still sought by the media after the damage he has done.
He was either caught asleep at the wheel… or knowingly allowed our country to suffer…
He was either caught asleep at the wheel… or knowingly allowed our country to suffer…
We can expect an increasing amount of this. With Labour leading in the polls and Starmer expected to enter No, 10, the Europhiles are on manoeuvres.
It’s entirely predictable that the dishonest Europhile obsessives, still smarting from not getting their way, are going to be building up the dishonest narrative that it is Brexit rather than the disastrous response to Covid and the war in Ukraine that are the cause of all our economic ills, with the intention that it will set Europhile Starmer up to tie Britain back into EU institutions, such as the Internal Market and Customs Union, with a view to taking us back to full membership.
No doubt Carney was asked to make this absurd statement. The man who pursued years of ultra-loose monetary policy that has left us with massive public and private sector debt piles and enormous asset price bubbles ripe to burst, has perhaps the greatest responsibility for the mess we are in now. He should be being eviscerated by economists, politicians and the MSM now for the recklessness and incompetence as Governor, not quoted as some economic sage.
Those who fought for Britain’s independence need to get back in to the fight. The Europhiles are being allowed to get away with their lies because there is little countering of their narrative, The big push by the Europhiles will be if/when Labour win the next GE. Those who wish to preserve our freedom need to be vociferously countering the Europhiles’ lies in the media now and getting themselves organised and prepared for the battle that will ensue if Starmer becomes PM.
Exactly as you said.
They own the media so you can present as much fact as you like it won’t matter.
Carny couldn’t pass GCSE high school economics exams without a C “could do better” – who knows what nonsense he’s speaking to the press for his remainder pals. Best he shuffle off to Canada and pick up the baton from Trudeau, another walking disaster. Apologies to any Canadians reading this, I am sincerely sorry for your Trudeau generated woes.
They ‘own’ the media? One has to chuckle at such twaddle. So they ‘own’ the Mail and Murdoch do they?
Carney overplays his argument but irrefutable Brexit added major difficulties to UK economy. The man reason comments here pile into the ex Governor is deflection.
They ‘own’ the media? One has to chuckle at such twaddle. So they ‘own’ the Mail and Murdoch do they?
Carney overplays his argument but irrefutable Brexit added major difficulties to UK economy. The man reason comments here pile into the ex Governor is deflection.
Exactly as you said.
They own the media so you can present as much fact as you like it won’t matter.
Carny couldn’t pass GCSE high school economics exams without a C “could do better” – who knows what nonsense he’s speaking to the press for his remainder pals. Best he shuffle off to Canada and pick up the baton from Trudeau, another walking disaster. Apologies to any Canadians reading this, I am sincerely sorry for your Trudeau generated woes.
We can expect an increasing amount of this. With Labour leading in the polls and Starmer expected to enter No, 10, the Europhiles are on manoeuvres.
It’s entirely predictable that the dishonest Europhile obsessives, still smarting from not getting their way, are going to be building up the dishonest narrative that it is Brexit rather than the disastrous response to Covid and the war in Ukraine that are the cause of all our economic ills, with the intention that it will set Europhile Starmer up to tie Britain back into EU institutions, such as the Internal Market and Customs Union, with a view to taking us back to full membership.
No doubt Carney was asked to make this absurd statement. The man who pursued years of ultra-loose monetary policy that has left us with massive public and private sector debt piles and enormous asset price bubbles ripe to burst, has perhaps the greatest responsibility for the mess we are in now. He should be being eviscerated by economists, politicians and the MSM now for the recklessness and incompetence as Governor, not quoted as some economic sage.
Those who fought for Britain’s independence need to get back in to the fight. The Europhiles are being allowed to get away with their lies because there is little countering of their narrative, The big push by the Europhiles will be if/when Labour win the next GE. Those who wish to preserve our freedom need to be vociferously countering the Europhiles’ lies in the media now and getting themselves organised and prepared for the battle that will ensue if Starmer becomes PM.
Or rather, like may economists, his case may be ‘vindicated’ when things go wrong or things go right. You might argue that his case is so vague because it is intended to retrospectively justify anything.
Exactly. Economics is not a science.
Exactly. Economics is not a science.
Or rather, like may economists, his case may be ‘vindicated’ when things go wrong or things go right. You might argue that his case is so vague because it is intended to retrospectively justify anything.
What about the money the government just printed over Covid and the $5bn wealth transfer to the richest of society, more billionaires created than any other time. The crash in 2018 and the printing of money whilst crashing asset base and global companies buying up all the assets Pennie’s on the dollar. Whatabout every major listed company linked to Blackrock, WEF, Un, WHO all these NGOs, and ESG work programmes which are systematically all charging well above the inflationary rate for goods and services whilst systematically crashing stocks on well established global markets due to their societal impact through Pride pieces, not educating just pushing propaganda to divide people like they have done on race and religion forever. This “Firesale” of crashing markets, taking out property ownership, creating proxy wars with unlimited funds, creating crisis on migration so they print more money, and then creating high interest rates which benefit the very rich and decimate the middle classes! All this is coincidental even though it is highlighted as the blueprint by the WEF to move to One World Government, and all governments changing laws to enact the same policies at the same time, whilst abusing positions of power. There is no nuisance in these arguments, it’s all done at the global level and put in plan. Like the next cyber crash on banking! These globalists are so smart but it’s so easy to see when you stop looking at the micro details and focus on macro trends. Critical thinking has been lost and so easy to get people to focus and distract them with small issues, keep you in fighting while the big systematic changes are happening. I wish I had been born to the elites sometimes, because people do not unite and are so thick and believe because of piece of paper they got a university makes them intelligent. Majority of are thick and easily programmable! Fact!
What about the money the government just printed over Covid and the $5bn wealth transfer to the richest of society, more billionaires created than any other time. The crash in 2018 and the printing of money whilst crashing asset base and global companies buying up all the assets Pennie’s on the dollar. Whatabout every major listed company linked to Blackrock, WEF, Un, WHO all these NGOs, and ESG work programmes which are systematically all charging well above the inflationary rate for goods and services whilst systematically crashing stocks on well established global markets due to their societal impact through Pride pieces, not educating just pushing propaganda to divide people like they have done on race and religion forever. This “Firesale” of crashing markets, taking out property ownership, creating proxy wars with unlimited funds, creating crisis on migration so they print more money, and then creating high interest rates which benefit the very rich and decimate the middle classes! All this is coincidental even though it is highlighted as the blueprint by the WEF to move to One World Government, and all governments changing laws to enact the same policies at the same time, whilst abusing positions of power. There is no nuisance in these arguments, it’s all done at the global level and put in plan. Like the next cyber crash on banking! These globalists are so smart but it’s so easy to see when you stop looking at the micro details and focus on macro trends. Critical thinking has been lost and so easy to get people to focus and distract them with small issues, keep you in fighting while the big systematic changes are happening. I wish I had been born to the elites sometimes, because people do not unite and are so thick and believe because of piece of paper they got a university makes them intelligent. Majority of are thick and easily programmable! Fact!
Why stop there?
I’m rather surprised that no one seems to be calling into question the merits of operationally independent central banks. Right now it’s hard to see what the independence adds. It may be, of course, that politically set interest rates would have been zero and there would have been QE.
One could very reasonably argue after all that it is not Rishi Sunak’s job to somehow fix the mortgage market or, for that matter, bail out mortgage holders. I am quite sure that calls to subsidise mortages are on the way.
The more general problem though is giving the establishment new toys like 0% (or negative) interest rates or QE – the toys have a habit of never going back in the box.
Funny thing is that I remember in about 1990 my Auntie paid to get out of a fixed rate mortgage. Times change!
Why stop there?
I’m rather surprised that no one seems to be calling into question the merits of operationally independent central banks. Right now it’s hard to see what the independence adds. It may be, of course, that politically set interest rates would have been zero and there would have been QE.
One could very reasonably argue after all that it is not Rishi Sunak’s job to somehow fix the mortgage market or, for that matter, bail out mortgage holders. I am quite sure that calls to subsidise mortages are on the way.
The more general problem though is giving the establishment new toys like 0% (or negative) interest rates or QE – the toys have a habit of never going back in the box.
Funny thing is that I remember in about 1990 my Auntie paid to get out of a fixed rate mortgage. Times change!
I thought it was agreed that Mr Biden’s sanctions on Russia were a major cause of Western inflation.
Ukraine conflict is undoubtedly a major cause. the question is why is inflation in the UK more stubborn than elsewhere? The Bond markets signalled that when last inflation figures showed an underlying resistance to reducing peculiar to the UK. That’s what’s triggered things now.
So what is unique? Labour shortages a significant factor. Oh and of course Brexit – what a total shambles.
This country only has one really major economic problem – and it has little to do with Brexit.
What’s that HB? Certainly intrigued now.
What’s that HB? Certainly intrigued now.
This country only has one really major economic problem – and it has little to do with Brexit.
Ukraine conflict is undoubtedly a major cause. the question is why is inflation in the UK more stubborn than elsewhere? The Bond markets signalled that when last inflation figures showed an underlying resistance to reducing peculiar to the UK. That’s what’s triggered things now.
So what is unique? Labour shortages a significant factor. Oh and of course Brexit – what a total shambles.
I thought it was agreed that Mr Biden’s sanctions on Russia were a major cause of Western inflation.
Carney just saw the opportunity to pronounce that his predictions of Brexit doom and gloom were correct. I always expected him to do this.
Carney just saw the opportunity to pronounce that his predictions of Brexit doom and gloom were correct. I always expected him to do this.
It’s not one thing is it. QE had a role, albeit more a suppressant on Interest rates and mortgages thus doubling the shock impact now. But House prices aren’t currently driving the jump in inflation. Quite the reverse for the time being.
Energy crisis and supply chain adjustment post pandemic big factors. But irrefutable Brexit added an additional adverse dynamic to the UK. Weakened Pound clearly resulting from Brexit = higher import cost. Labour shortages clearly exacerbated by Brexit, albeit not the main driver for those but nonetheless hasn’t helped. Additional Brexit bureaucracy added costs too.
Carney overplays the blame, but at same time you’d have a heck of a job finding an economic benefit to Brexit and it just may be a part explanation for why we are doing worse on inflation than others. Uncomfortable for supporters, but they may argue Brexit wasn’t about economic benefits but more opaque contentions about sovereignty
It’s not one thing is it. QE had a role, albeit more a suppressant on Interest rates and mortgages thus doubling the shock impact now. But House prices aren’t currently driving the jump in inflation. Quite the reverse for the time being.
Energy crisis and supply chain adjustment post pandemic big factors. But irrefutable Brexit added an additional adverse dynamic to the UK. Weakened Pound clearly resulting from Brexit = higher import cost. Labour shortages clearly exacerbated by Brexit, albeit not the main driver for those but nonetheless hasn’t helped. Additional Brexit bureaucracy added costs too.
Carney overplays the blame, but at same time you’d have a heck of a job finding an economic benefit to Brexit and it just may be a part explanation for why we are doing worse on inflation than others. Uncomfortable for supporters, but they may argue Brexit wasn’t about economic benefits but more opaque contentions about sovereignty