ABSTRACT
There is one opinion that unites the whole world, all strands of opinion and all shades of attitude in every nation. It is this:
Things aren’t working as well as they should be.
This is an endless source of frustration, especially to those who provide services for the community, or who receive such services, or whose money is spent on them, or who would like to enjoy them but somehow cannot – in other words, all of us. There are debates, of course, as to how to make things better: get in new providers, strip out the dead wood, provide more money – get someone else to pay for it. Some even advocate wholesale change, but isn’t it clear, they are asked, that no alternative to the capitalist economic model is feasible? After all, look what happened to Russia – and what about human rights in China? Terrible. But then look at the USA: Ben Bernanke of the US Federal Reserve told us in 2011 that at the time of the ‘crash’, in September 2008, 12 of America’s top 13 banks (all except J.P. Morgan) were within hours of failure – of disappearing.
