samedi 11 octobre 2008

Junk paper

The Guardian, and the media in general, use the past tense in a specific way when they describe threatening situations. The crisis has slipped from the control of our great leaders and there is a real possibility of a global slump. Yet one keeps reading about how last Wednesday the system nearly collapsed or late last week this or some other mechanism nearly failed thus nearly sending the whole world into a hellfire tailspin into oblivion.

The impression is not of news but of being soothed. Of being manipulated into thinking that everything is fine really and that the danger, phew, has passed.

Christian Noyer on Bloomberg this morning was a lot more direct and, frankly, anxious. It was pleasing to watch. Some serious bloggers out there, you know the ones - see prisonplanet, for example, are reading like the end of te neolib world is like happening right now. Not last week and so the implication being - all is ok now, but right at this very moment.