I was glad to see Cobden Partners’ Gordon Kerr on Bloomberg yesterday, explaining why the Greek bailout will fail:
As I wrote elsewhere, the western world may be in a second crisis of state socialism, a crisis of the welfare state. It appears that politicians’ excess spending pledges over what they could raise in taxation have been covered indirectly by chronic credit expansion since the end of Bretton Woods. As Hayek, Mises, Huerta de Soto and others have explained, that was bound to lead to a banking crisis.
If this thesis is essentially correct, it may be that Greece is simply in the vanguard of a pattern which we should expect elsewhere. That implies a need for everyone who cares about peace and prosperity to think fundamentally and without fear or favour about our plight. That’s why I am proud to be associated with both the Cobden Centre and Cobden Partners.
I am glad I have lived to see a member of Parliament write such things.
It may well be that civil society will fall – but at least the light of our civilization will not go out without people defending it. Win or lose at least people will have tried to save the West.
For most of my life I have feared that civilization would fall without rational resistance (that understanding of “the basics” has vanished from all people in public life).
Mr Baker and some others show that this is not so – the light will not go out without a fight to defend it.