Conrad Black once said that Linda McQuaig--author of Shooting the Hippo, the 1995 best-seller that popped the balloon of Canada's deficit hysteria--needed a good horsewhipping. Alas, perhaps unable to get his hands on a nicely cured leather rope, Black has yet to dole out that particular punishment to. >> So instead, his newspaper just won't interview her. >> McQuaig was in Montreal last Monday to promote her new book, The Cult of Impotence, but the Gazette was not among her list of media appointments (though they may yet review the book). Ironically, McQuaig says the book is about "how effective the elite is at getting its way." >> Be that as it may, The Cult of Impotence (Viking, $32) has nothing to do with Conrad Black. Rather, the book's title refers to the commonly held notion that governments are powerless when confronted by international financial markets. According to McQuaig, every reason Paul Martin gave for slashing social programs--the country has no choice, we're in hock up to our eyeballs, international markets will come down on us with a vengeance--is a big load of hooey. >> "It very much favours the government that there is a cult of impotence," McQuaig told the Mirror, "because it lets them off the hook. The public used to demand things like full employment and social programs. Now, the public believes the government is powerless to deliver those things, so they no longer hold governments responsible." >> To prove her point, McQuaig notes that governments are never powerless to deliver what the elite wants--like reduced deficits and high interest rates. "Governments are not powerless except when they want to be. And what a great situation that the public believes it." --Philip Preville
Conrad Black once said that Linda McQuaig--author of Shooting the Hippo, the 1995 best-seller that popped the balloon of Canada's deficit hysteria--needed a good horsewhipping. Alas, perhaps unable to get his hands on a nicely cured leather rope, Black has yet to dole out that particular punishment to. >> So instead, his newspaper just won't interview her. >> McQuaig was in Montreal last Monday to promote her new book, The Cult of Impotence, but the Gazette was not among her list of media appointments (though they may yet review the book). Ironically, McQuaig says the book is about "how effective the elite is at getting its way." >> Be that as it may, The Cult of Impotence (Viking, $32) has nothing to do with Conrad Black. Rather, the book's title refers to the commonly held notion that governments are powerless when confronted by international financial markets. According to McQuaig, every reason Paul Martin gave for slashing social programs--the country has no choice, we're in hock up to our eyeballs, international markets will come down on us with a vengeance--is a big load of hooey. >> "It very much favours the government that there is a cult of impotence," McQuaig told the Mirror, "because it lets them off the hook. The public used to demand things like full employment and social programs. Now, the public believes the government is powerless to deliver those things, so they no longer hold governments responsible." >> To prove her point, McQuaig notes that governments are never powerless to deliver what the elite wants--like reduced deficits and high interest rates. "Governments are not powerless except when they want to be. And what a great situation that the public believes it." --Philip Preville