Things they used to say…
“I think the financial volatility has diminished and the credit crisis is coming to an end”
Reserve Bank member Professor Warwick McGibbin in May this year
“US financial markets are emerging from the credit crunch and the worst is likely to be behind us”
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, also in May, almost talks himself out of a job
Things they say now, as the crisis worsens by the day
“What we are seeing now is the failure of extreme capitalism… Extreme capitalism which turns now to institutions of government which extreme capitalism has spent decades deriding”
Kevin Rudd explaining the current economic crisis
“I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interest of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such as that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders and their equity in the firms.”
Alan Greenspan, former chair of the US Federal Reserve reviews his career
“My father came home from the Second World War to re-build a conflict-ravaged world. It involved hard work and plenty of sacrifice”
Wayne Swan explains who pays the cost when our rulers trash the economy
“Certain parts of Marx’s thinking are really not so bad.”
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck joins the revival of Marx
“Marx long ago observed the way in which unbridled capitalism became a kind of mythology, ascribing reality, power and agency to things that had no life in themselves.”
Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury – a previously unlikely supporter of Marx
“He walked out of there with $5.5 billion in his pocket”
James Packer aide describing Packer’s “emotional decision” to cut his connections with the Packer media empire.
“It’s like being in love. If you think you are in love, you are in love. If you think you are in traffic, you are in traffic.”
Nathan Rees, NSW Premier looks on the bright side of Sydney’s transport woes. Perhaps he could apply a similar philosophy to other areas of his ailing government
“Not in my experience have I ever heard of a film which has actually been named after the country and resonates so well with the country’s brand.”
Geoff Buckley, Tourism Australia’s managing director on Baz Luhrmann’s new film Australia
“We should avoid the use of words like ‘win’ and ‘lose’ in the context of Afghanistan. It’s not that sort of enterprise.”
Sir Jock Stirrup, British Chief of Defence Staff redefines the mission in Afghanistan
“The American strategy is destined to fail… the coalition is part of the problem, not the solution. The [realistic solution for Afghanistan] is an acceptable dictator.”
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, British Ambasador to Kabul on Afghanistan’s future
