Dough Maker strikes out at other Dough Makers

Sir Michael Darrington is retiring.

Not heard of him? No. Neither had I. But apparently he is/was the MD of Greggs the Bakers, an outfit which, when I was a resident of Edinburgh, owned a few wee corner-shop bakers, but now seems to be taking over the world with its sausage rolls and cheese and bacon lattices.

But anyway, I blog briefly on this because whilst I was making my lunch I briefly turned on Radio 4's You and Yours, a programme which generally causes me to turn off immediately, but this gentleman was speaking very cogently about the excesses of the capitalist system. Whilst describing himself as a capitalist (and watching the onwards and upwards march of Greggs he could be described as a capitalist par excellance) he has been described as denouncing the excesses of the capitalist system in the manner of an archbishop, particularly those aspects of it that have caused the banks to lend money to speculators who have bought up foodstuffs to hoard them, driving the price up. This may cause a small increase in the cost of a Greggs' sausage roll (though they took the decision not to pass on the full cost increase to the customer apparently) but it has caused real hunger and starvation among the world's poor. I have always thouoght of the stockmarket as upmarket gambling, but this reminds us that these commodities brokers have actually been gambling with people's lives.

And the banks have been funding it. The hoarding of food AND giving usurous mortgages to people who couldn't afford it causing them to become homeless.

Why did we bail out this bunch of immoral so and sos (I would actually prefer to use a stronger word here, but I won't)? I know that the entire western economy may have irretrievably broken down if we hadn't but maybe that would ultimately have been better for the poor.

Do listen to the interview in full.

Selah

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