Silver linings and bankers whining

Recent events have been as nectar for the political blogosphere (no more so than for Guido – who’s claiming credit for Hain’s downfall), and Michael White has tackled them all with typical aplomb in an excellent post over at the Guardian website.

Whilst I’m not sure about White’s characterisation of the fundraising scandal as a “moving traffic offence”, he makes a pertinent every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining observation about Hain’s resignation:

“Hain’s fall meant that Alistair Darling’s retreat on CGT reforms and the compromise on MPs’ pay – 1.9% plus the details – were buried on today’s inside pages and after the human interest stories (so many of them nowadays) on dumbed-down TV.”

And I’m particularly taken with White’s analysis of the World Economic Forum at Davos:

“…the financial big dicks gathered at Davos at this time of year in a comic ritual of mutual regard.  I went once (once is enough).  Last year the Masters of the Universe were assuring each other that the multiply-securitised debt packages – stuffed with sub-prime borrowing – they were selling to each other would be just fine ….  This year they are soiling their silk undies. What a shame they can’t suffer quietly without dragging the rest of us into their problems.  It’s not as if this doesn’t happen regularly (”this time it’s different,” are the four most dangerous words in economics)…”