Final Word from Thursday, May 16, 2013
We aren't spending enough, say the central bankers and analysts, and because of our stinginess we're plunging the economy into its longest slump ever. Yet when we do spend, we increasingly give our money to a smaller and smaller group of people who control the main sectors of the economy and have a symbiotic relationship with the state. The oligarchs and financial groups use our money to buy up more and more of the economy, squeezing out other players and returning to the real economy only a fraction of what we give them as consumers. It's a self-perpetuating process that is leading to a sort of neo-feudalism. The "new nobility" control the money flows and the media; everyone else becomes a vassal of the nobility or the state; the central bankers debase the currency to accelerate the process; and the state loses its ability to assure the military protection that was the primary reason for its very existence.[Czech Republic Czech National Bank crown devalue devaluation depreciation banks]
Glossary of difficult words
feudalism - a political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the 15th century in which the nobility held lands from the crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles;
stinginess - unwillingness to give or spend;
to plunge something - to suddenly bring something into a specified state or condition;
slump - a prolonged period of abnormally low economic activity;
symbiotic relationship - a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups;
vassal - a person who held land from a feudal lord and received protection for homage and allegiance;
to debase (a currency) - to lower the value; to devalue.