Skipper

A recent piece by Peter Wilby, suggested that a return to 'the politics of envy' would be salutory in a British socio-political culture apparently so relaxed about people, in Mandelson's infamous phrase, 'getting filthy rich'. He rehearses the most recent unpalatable fact: Goldman Sachs employees sharing £9 billion in bonuses with some getting several millions each. When my Current Affairs class discussed this a month ago, a fair proportion, especially the retired businessmen, argued that distributing the largesse of the few who were rich, would only provide a few crumbs for the poor. Brendan Barber of the TUC however points out that this handout alone would give every British worker £350 each; more than a few crumbs maybe.

Wilby lists some of the harmful effects of the kind of inequality which produced a 28% increase in directors pay while ordinary workers had to make do with inflation plus a bit.

i) House prices in the capital have been ratcheted sky high by the bonus laden mega rich and the consequent ripples have helped push house prices way beyond the means of most aspirant first time buyers without house-owning relatives about to drop of their perches.

ii) Very rich people can monopolise the services of scarce resources like the best surgeons, push up restaurant prices and at the same time minimize their tax liabilities through employing the best accountants; this last meaning that the tax burden falls even more disproportionately on the less well-off.

iii) As political party membership declines the super-rich are able to hold them to hostage in lieu of major donations.

iv) As inequality grows Wilby cites evidence adduced by Richard Wilkinson, social epidemiologist at Nottingham University that as it becomes flagrantly unequal, society becomes less safe, more violent, more racist.

'One man's bonus from Goldman Sachs', asserts Wilby, is almost literally another person's killer'.

Meanwhile, David Bolchover in The Times argues that such extravagant bonuses blunts entrepreneurial endeavour and therefore is essentially anti-capitalist. University graduates simply queue up, salivating at the thought of such easy-money largesse from Mammon and neglect the business of setting up new successful enterprises. He also argues that the huge salaries given to traders by the bosses of big companies is used to justify their own even grosser rates of pay. Wilby is honest about admitting the solution to this problem is exceedingly complex and so far elusive but suggests:

It would be good start if New Labour at least recognised the problem. Let us all make a new year resolution to be seriously unrelaxed about the filthy rich...'

I can't help but agree.