[p2p-research] john pilger on the greeks

[j.martin.pedersen]

Ridley?

On 24/05/10 20:20, Ryan Lanham wrote:
> Michel,
> 
> I am reading a good book now by Matt Ridley called the Rational Optimist.
> He points out that doom and gloom about the future is an old sport that
> rarely if ever plays out to be true or useful.  The reality he claims is
> that things are getting wildly better rapidly, and will get wildly better
> still.  Whether or not he is ultimately correct or not is, I suppose, in the
> eye of the beholder.  He makes compelling arguments to my mind.
> 
> I recommend it for anyone who wants to pay his publisher 26.50 rather than
> 99.95 to the publisher of the book on abundance for all.

"Good" to hear the old landed/aristocratic elite is optimistic and still
going strong in the traditional sport of promising progress for the
masses, while skimming the cream and fetishising the technologies they
use to maintain control and their position of wealth. Funny perspective
he has on doom - after all he has done his best to provoke it:

Ridley was non-executive chairman of Northern Rock from 2004 to 2007,
earning £300,000 a year,[7]  having joined the board in 1994. His father
had been chairman for from 1987 to 1992 and sat on the board for 30
years.[8]

In the ten years from 1997 Northern Rock grew its earnings per share by
a compound 17%[9] and donated £190m to good causes through a covenant of
5% of pre-tax profits to a charitable foundation, established when
Ridley was on the board[10].

In September 2007 Northern Rock became the first British bank for
decades to suffer a run on its finances at the start of the credit
crunch. It was forced to apply to the Bank of England for emergency
liquidity funding, following problems caused by the US subprime mortgage
crisis.[11] Matt Ridley resigned as chairman in October 2007, having
been blamed in parliamentary committee hearings for not recognizing the
risks of the bank's financial strategy and thereby "harming the
reputation of the British banking industry."[12]

His father Matthew White Ridley, 4th Viscount Ridley, KG, GCVO, TD (born
29 July 1925) is a British nobleman, who served for approximately a
decade as Lord Steward of the Household:

The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household, in England, is an
important official of the Royal Household. He is always a peer. Until
1924, he was always a member of the Government.[citation needed] Until
1782, the office was one of considerable political importance and
carried Cabinet rank.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++