Living in interesting times!

My first blog - and what a time to start!

All the old certainties of the world, that governments had all the answers, and then that markets had all the answers, are gone. Even bankers, those 'masters of the universe' are now civil (or uncivil) servants! Can we assume they will be subject to public sector pay restraint?!

The housing bubble has finally burst - and about time. Surely it is not just bad economics, but also immoral to be able to get richer by lying in bed as one's home rises in value, than if one goes out and gets a job?

If this bubble had not burst now, the pain when it finally burst would have been even bigger. So now we have effectively got a form of socialism. However, its not the old form that strikes terror into the hearts of God-fearing Americans, under which the State decided who needed what and what they would get. This form of socialism is far more interesting and, hopefully, sustainable. The new socialism is in fact a form of social capitalism or tax-payers socialism, since the state is investing taxpayers money - yours and mine - so needs to listen (or at least pretend to) when it places its representatives on the boards of banks and other joint venture companies (which is what banks have become).

We can expect a new generation of 'smart regulation' in which private corporations will need to take into account the wider public interest when making their investments.

The time has arrived in which we need to redefine the public interest in economic development (and urban development) and formulate ways of protecting it, whilst still enabling bankers and other investors, to make a reasonable living.

Interesting times indeed - and potentially exciting! This time, we need to get it right.