On 2014-04-28 08:34, Graeme Wall wrote:
On 28/04/2014 07:41, Hils wrote:
On 2014-04-26 18:47, d wrote:
On Sat, 26 Apr 2014 07:33:21 +0100
Martin Edwards wrote:
It is not widely known that, while the rest of the Civil Service is
headed by people from many universities, the Treasury is almost wholly
Oxbridge.
Doesn't surprise me. Most of the chinless wonders seem to float to
the top.
Patronage and nepotism.
I wonder if any of them actually have economics or maths degrees or its
just a swathe of useless liberal arts degrees.
It doesn't much matter, it's only a jobclub for the aristocracy's
surplus offspring. (See also banks, BBC.)
What's it like living in 1910?
Perhaps you missed the study showing that there was more social mobility
in Britain in the 12th century than there is in the 21st. Perhaps you've
missed Piketty's surprise best-seller saying much the same thing.
From a summary of Piketty's work in today's Guardian: "those who have
family fortunes are the winners, and everyone else doesn't have much of
a shot of being wealthy unless they marry into or inherit money. [...]
No one else can ever catch up."
Actually a few people can catch up, by using laws intended to protect
wealthy families: primarily property parasites and bankers.
Another recent study shows that almost all laws enacted in the US favour
very wealthy individuals and corporations. In Britain such laws have
been in place for centuries.