Mark Bailey

Stephen Colbert, a professed Catholic, says he believes that when we die, "there is some continuance of some kind. But it’s like a dispersion of the self into some other greater being. And I don’t have any other feelings beyond that.” This sounds more like the Gnostic concept of the Pleroma than the Catholic doctrine of Heaven.

Who precisely are the 'bond vigilantes', the true enemies of democracy who sell off and manipulate government bonds to jack up yields, spook populations and threaten cowardly politicians? We're usually told that pension funds run the show and they're just looking after our savings. This gives money-market power a rational and ethical image. It's not true. Pension funds are big buyers, but they tend to invest long term, making them ineffective 'bond vigilantes'. The other big buyers are central banks, foreign governments, banks, corporations, insurance companies, asset managers, and mutual funds. But their tendency is also for the long term. The true culprits, the 'bond vigilantes' at the heart of money-market power, are the 'global macro' hedge funds working through desk traders. They operate short-term and, using derivatives-style techniques such as shorting, interest-rate swaps and credit-default swaps, they can rapidly drive gilt yields higher and threaten governments anywhere. They can also launch simultaneous currency attacks, depreciating a currency and jacking up import costs. This is stateless, concentrated money-market power with no loyalty to any population and determined to keep governments subjugated and powerless. They can unseat left-wing governments, prevent public investment and nationalisation, and keep nations open to private investment and privatisation. This is a relatively small network of funders and traders, many ensconced in the City of London. It could be crushed with international agreements on non-tradable fixed-rate bonds and strict capital exchange controls. The secondary bond market is only 200 years old. It could be obliterated as quickly as it emerged, but that would take an international network of informed and courageous politicians and central bankers. At the moment a pipe dream.

Fran Lebowitz on the billionaires: “Every time someone suggests [a wealth tax] they say I’m moving. Go! They add nothing to New York. In the 19th century, those robber barons, they employed people. All this money magic employs no one. Goodbye, go. We don’t need you”

"All of our social programs were built for a high-trust society… That social trust has become diminished." From the DOJ's $90M fraud bust in MN:

A viewer from Makerfield emailed this to me today. He received this letter from Hope Not Hate through his door, and they appear to be actively campaigning for Andy Burnham and the Labour Party.