We are living through chaos unleashed by the wealthiest

Here is a must-read article from Nick Cohen in today's Observer. I recently read one of Nick's. I disagreed with almost everything he wrote, yet thoroughly enjoyed the book.

In this article, he makes some very interesting observations about the UK today and the demise of the New Labour project.

Unlike the crisis of the Seventies, which shifted middle-class opinion rightwards, today's crash cannot be blamed on striking trade unionists. The worst you can say about the mass of ordinary people or, indeed, the mass of middle-class people, is that they allowed the bankers to persuade them that they could safely borrow to excess. Speculators running riot brought this emergency. The lazy regulators at the Financial Services Authority who did not and, if their lifting of the ban on short selling is any guide, still do not see the need to control financial capitalism, were their accomplices

The characteristic villain of our day is not a modern equivalent of Arthur Scargill, but Sir Fred Goodwin, who made £20 million from the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest, then left the taxpayer with an unlimited liability for the cost of cleaning up the mess.