William Hague on angry electorates and how extremists are one crisis away from power

William Hague has an excellent and interesting piece in the Daily Telegraph here about how voters in many countries feel angry and let down, and it would be easy for radicals with untried views - sometimes downright extremists - to win power. It's worth a read if you have five minutes

Talking of the current policies of central banks, he concludes

"The biggest threat to the security of western nations and the lives of their citizens is a terrorist attack. This is a threat that has to be defeated, but it is not the one that will overwhelm our political systems.
 
The crisis that would bring extremists and mavericks to power in major countries will be rooted in loss of control of migration or a renewed financial disaster.

Sensible governments are busy bringing down their deficits, but it is central banks who make the big judgment on interest rates and the supply of credit. After eight years of rock-bottom rates and monetary easing, only tentatively departed from in the US, are we absolutely sure that consumers in advanced economies are not taking on too much debt and putting too much of it in their houses? Or that the financial system is not too dependent on easy money?
 
The brilliant minds at the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England may well be right. But if they’re wrong, those angry electorates will end up being very, very angry indeed."

Comments

Jim said…
Or to put it another way, the ‘chosen’ might be in danger of losing power.

and that again is just it isn't it. You see under a democratic system then there is nothing there to "win" the power flows upwards not downwards, thats democracy.
Chris Whiteside said…
His point is that if the "brilliant minds" at the central banks are seen to have messed up the word's economies again there will be lots of unhappy and angry voters who may be in a mood to try some radical and different policies.

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