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Sunak, an Oxford and Stanford educated billionaire, is perhaps the best candidate the Conservative party can unsurprisingly put forward at the current moment. G

Sunak, an Oxford and Stanford educated billionaire, is perhaps the best candidate the Conservative party can unsurprisingly put forward at the current moment. Given his background as a successful investment banker at Goldman Sachs, one can only wonder about what his economic policies would look like.

ARandomerDude 4y ago
- feintruled 4y ago
  Seeing this a lot. What is the coup? What is 'globalism' for that matter?
  - contravariant 4y ago
    Also what's recent about it?
  - sambeau 4y ago
    Globalism is a right-wing code word for Jewish
    - Veen 4y ago
      Not in this case it isn't. Globalism has a widely accepted definition in political science.
      - Arnt 4y ago
        Do you think ARandomerDude uses the wird in that widely accepted sense?
      - acdha 4y ago
        Globalism has a history, yes, but it’s unclear what reason we have to believe that has any connection to recent events. She wasn’t exactly ousted for going against some Tory ideal of being part of an internationally-integrated economy - those people voted to stay in the EU! - and given the heated “coup” miscategorization the right-winger explanation seems more likely.
        Veen 4y ago
        Well, I'm a right-winger: a one-nation Tory to be precise. When I say globalism I mean: "structuring society and the economy around the free movement of capital, people, and goods across borders. Generally with the belief that these are good things." (I'm paraphrasing Rayiner's comment above). I do not mean: 'The Jews control everything and $(event) is part of an evil Jewish plot.' https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33317480 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33317480
        acdha 4y ago
        Yeah, I remembered your posting history. I guess I would phrase my question as whether you really think that he used that as part of some thoughtful economic worldview but also felt “coup” was accurate?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - grnmamba 4y ago
      Odd accusation since Sunak is Hindu.
    - GameOfFrowns 4y ago
      [flagged]
  - pornel 4y ago
    "Globalist elites" is an old dog whistle. Because the EU can't be blamed for the ruling party's failures any more, GB News (UK's InfoWars) had to recycle the old scapegoat.
  - Veen 4y ago
    Liz Truss was elected Tory leader by the party's membership. MPs were, by and large, not very happy about it. Sunak was expected to win. Truss did what she did, her MPs turned on her, and she was forced to resign. Then there was another leadership contest with different rules which, after some horse trading between potential candidates, didn't give party members a vote and resulted in the uncontested appointment of the person the MPs wanted all along—Rishi Sunak. This does not sit well with some party members, although calling it a coup is excessive.
    - gizajob 4y ago
      The MPs mightn't have been happy about it but they put her on the ballot paper
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - kmeisthax 4y ago
    There is a series of nested political dog whistles[0] that people are invoking when they use the word "globalist" to refer to - let's be clear - right wing conservatives who aren't right wing enough. The idea behind these dog whistles is that multinational corporations and rich investors are actually a front for global communism. Yes, ruthlessly profit-seeking investors like George Soros, the man who broke the Bank of England's ERM peg[1], were actually "cultural Marxists" the whole time! Somehow. Ignore them being the worst examples of capitalism, an economic system Marx thought was evil that would eat itself. They said they like racial diversity and feminism, so they're clearly "cultural Marxists". Anyone who remembers their WWII history should have alarms blaring in their head, because "cultural Bolshevism" was one of noted meth enthusiast Adolf Hitler's favorite phrases, and he used it in exactly the same sense I described in the previous paragraph. You see, it turns out this is actually just about demonizing the Jews, because it is always about demonizing the Jews. They may not know that they were going down that path, but that is where the logic leads. "Globalism", outside of the dog whistle context, just means free trade and open borders; i.e. standard liberal[2] free market stuff. The people who lost out on free trade adopted the term to refer to the dog whistles I listed out above. [0] I'm not even going to glorify it with the words "conspiracy theory". A conspiracy theory is a guess on what the rich and powerful are doing that may be right or wrong. [1] European Rate Mechanism; it was the on-ramp to the Eurozone before the Euro was a thing. The failure to establish an ERM peg basically doomed the UK to never join the Euro. [2] And right-libertarian.
    - feintruled 4y ago
      Thanks, that's interesting. I had understood that globalism meant something like free trade which is why it seemed so confusing that it was now being bandied around as an insult by conservatives, especially as since Brexit was supposed to deliver a 'global Britain'. Your alternative makes more sense.
      - rayiner 4y ago
        His “alternative explanation” is a red herring and mud slinging. “Globalism” refers to an economic structure featuring free trade and free movement of labor across borders. It's parallel to the terms "socialism" and "capitalism." Many conservative oppose globalism, in particular nationalist and social conservatives. Especially now that, in both the UK and the US, Wall Street/Canary Wharf has aligned itself with socially liberal/economically neoliberal pro-immigration parties. Obviously the free market types (both conservative and liberal) want to deflect any criticism of these trends. And unfortunately, any criticism of Wall Street/Canary Wharf will draw out some anti-semites. Which is why it's been Labour that's had the problem with anti-semitism: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-politics-labour-antisemitism/uk-labour-suspends-ex-leader-corbyn-on-anti-semitism-day-of-shame-idUSKBN27E1R3 https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-politics-labour-a.... But it’s frankly gross to use that to shield globalization as an economic and political trend from criticism.
- kdmsk 4y ago
  [flagged]
mytailorisrich 4y ago
We know his economic policies. It will be austerity 2.0 and the predictions are of a deeper recession because of tax increases and spending cuts (both already announced in general terms by Hunt, ally of Sunak and tipped to remain Chancellor). Increasing the corporation tax is his policy, for instance. A lot of the government's debt level issues also stem from the response to Covid when, hmm, Sunak was in charge of public finances...
- CraigJPerry 4y ago
  Is Sunak not an MMT-er ? I heard him waxing lyrical about reducing the deficit early this year on i think it was Nick Ferarri's LBC show. He was pushing all the buttons for monetarism aficionados. If he is an MMT-er then we might dodge austerity but i can't see him standing up to the bond markets after what the UK has just been through so that will hold him back. Also if he is an MMT-er there's the need for higher taxation and no-one has figured out how that side of MMT should work fairly yet i don't think?
  - samwillis 4y ago
    For those like me unsure what MMT is: Modern Monetary Theory - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory
    - touristtam 4y ago
      I am sure it stands for Magic Money Tree :p
  - yung_steezy 4y ago
    No one can seriously defend MMT now after central bank monetary policies during the pandemic led to inflation everywhere.
    - CraigJPerry 4y ago
      I'm not an expert on this but i believe that is a statement not in opposition to MMT. Providing more money leads to inflation is something the MMT doctrine states and it claims the need for taxation to control this. AIUI the contentious point of MMT is on crowding out private investment. EDIT: for clarity
phantomathkg 4y ago
Let's see if he will continue his China-leaning policy. https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-uk-how-the-brexit-thatcherite-unwittingly-became-the-tory-left/ https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-uk-how-the-brexi...
- n4r9 4y ago
  Perhaps I'm missing something, but that article doesn't mention China?
biztos 4y ago
I guess he was pretty successful, but I think it's mostly his wife's inherited money and you have to count her offshore holdings to make him a billionaire.[0] [0]: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61490481 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61490481

ARandomerDude 4y ago

feintruled 4y ago
Seeing this a lot. What is the coup? What is 'globalism' for that matter?
- contravariant 4y ago
  Also what's recent about it?
- sambeau 4y ago
  Globalism is a right-wing code word for Jewish
  - Veen 4y ago
    Not in this case it isn't. Globalism has a widely accepted definition in political science.
    - Arnt 4y ago
      Do you think ARandomerDude uses the wird in that widely accepted sense?
    - acdha 4y ago
      Globalism has a history, yes, but it’s unclear what reason we have to believe that has any connection to recent events. She wasn’t exactly ousted for going against some Tory ideal of being part of an internationally-integrated economy - those people voted to stay in the EU! - and given the heated “coup” miscategorization the right-winger explanation seems more likely.
      - Veen 4y ago
        Well, I'm a right-winger: a one-nation Tory to be precise. When I say globalism I mean: "structuring society and the economy around the free movement of capital, people, and goods across borders. Generally with the belief that these are good things." (I'm paraphrasing Rayiner's comment above). I do not mean: 'The Jews control everything and $(event) is part of an evil Jewish plot.' https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33317480 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33317480
        acdha 4y ago
        Yeah, I remembered your posting history. I guess I would phrase my question as whether you really think that he used that as part of some thoughtful economic worldview but also felt “coup” was accurate?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - grnmamba 4y ago
    Odd accusation since Sunak is Hindu.
  - GameOfFrowns 4y ago
    [flagged]
- pornel 4y ago
  "Globalist elites" is an old dog whistle. Because the EU can't be blamed for the ruling party's failures any more, GB News (UK's InfoWars) had to recycle the old scapegoat.
- Veen 4y ago
  Liz Truss was elected Tory leader by the party's membership. MPs were, by and large, not very happy about it. Sunak was expected to win. Truss did what she did, her MPs turned on her, and she was forced to resign. Then there was another leadership contest with different rules which, after some horse trading between potential candidates, didn't give party members a vote and resulted in the uncontested appointment of the person the MPs wanted all along—Rishi Sunak. This does not sit well with some party members, although calling it a coup is excessive.
  - gizajob 4y ago
    The MPs mightn't have been happy about it but they put her on the ballot paper
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- kmeisthax 4y ago
  There is a series of nested political dog whistles[0] that people are invoking when they use the word "globalist" to refer to - let's be clear - right wing conservatives who aren't right wing enough. The idea behind these dog whistles is that multinational corporations and rich investors are actually a front for global communism. Yes, ruthlessly profit-seeking investors like George Soros, the man who broke the Bank of England's ERM peg[1], were actually "cultural Marxists" the whole time! Somehow. Ignore them being the worst examples of capitalism, an economic system Marx thought was evil that would eat itself. They said they like racial diversity and feminism, so they're clearly "cultural Marxists". Anyone who remembers their WWII history should have alarms blaring in their head, because "cultural Bolshevism" was one of noted meth enthusiast Adolf Hitler's favorite phrases, and he used it in exactly the same sense I described in the previous paragraph. You see, it turns out this is actually just about demonizing the Jews, because it is always about demonizing the Jews. They may not know that they were going down that path, but that is where the logic leads. "Globalism", outside of the dog whistle context, just means free trade and open borders; i.e. standard liberal[2] free market stuff. The people who lost out on free trade adopted the term to refer to the dog whistles I listed out above. [0] I'm not even going to glorify it with the words "conspiracy theory". A conspiracy theory is a guess on what the rich and powerful are doing that may be right or wrong. [1] European Rate Mechanism; it was the on-ramp to the Eurozone before the Euro was a thing. The failure to establish an ERM peg basically doomed the UK to never join the Euro. [2] And right-libertarian.
  - feintruled 4y ago
    Thanks, that's interesting. I had understood that globalism meant something like free trade which is why it seemed so confusing that it was now being bandied around as an insult by conservatives, especially as since Brexit was supposed to deliver a 'global Britain'. Your alternative makes more sense.
    - rayiner 4y ago
      His “alternative explanation” is a red herring and mud slinging. “Globalism” refers to an economic structure featuring free trade and free movement of labor across borders. It's parallel to the terms "socialism" and "capitalism." Many conservative oppose globalism, in particular nationalist and social conservatives. Especially now that, in both the UK and the US, Wall Street/Canary Wharf has aligned itself with socially liberal/economically neoliberal pro-immigration parties. Obviously the free market types (both conservative and liberal) want to deflect any criticism of these trends. And unfortunately, any criticism of Wall Street/Canary Wharf will draw out some anti-semites. Which is why it's been Labour that's had the problem with anti-semitism: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-politics-labour-antisemitism/uk-labour-suspends-ex-leader-corbyn-on-anti-semitism-day-of-shame-idUSKBN27E1R3 https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-politics-labour-a.... But it’s frankly gross to use that to shield globalization as an economic and political trend from criticism.
kdmsk 4y ago
[flagged]

mytailorisrich 4y ago

We know his economic policies. It will be austerity 2.0 and the predictions are of a deeper recession because of tax increases and spending cuts (both already announced in general terms by Hunt, ally of Sunak and tipped to remain Chancellor). Increasing the corporation tax is his policy, for instance. A lot of the government's debt level issues also stem from the response to Covid when, hmm, Sunak was in charge of public finances...

CraigJPerry 4y ago
Is Sunak not an MMT-er ? I heard him waxing lyrical about reducing the deficit early this year on i think it was Nick Ferarri's LBC show. He was pushing all the buttons for monetarism aficionados. If he is an MMT-er then we might dodge austerity but i can't see him standing up to the bond markets after what the UK has just been through so that will hold him back. Also if he is an MMT-er there's the need for higher taxation and no-one has figured out how that side of MMT should work fairly yet i don't think?
- samwillis 4y ago
  For those like me unsure what MMT is: Modern Monetary Theory - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory
  - touristtam 4y ago
    I am sure it stands for Magic Money Tree :p
- yung_steezy 4y ago
  No one can seriously defend MMT now after central bank monetary policies during the pandemic led to inflation everywhere.
  - CraigJPerry 4y ago
    I'm not an expert on this but i believe that is a statement not in opposition to MMT. Providing more money leads to inflation is something the MMT doctrine states and it claims the need for taxation to control this. AIUI the contentious point of MMT is on crowding out private investment. EDIT: for clarity

phantomathkg 4y ago

Let's see if he will continue his China-leaning policy. https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-uk-how-the-brexit-thatcherite-unwittingly-became-the-tory-left/ https://www.politico.eu/article/rishi-sunak-uk-how-the-brexi...

n4r9 4y ago
Perhaps I'm missing something, but that article doesn't mention China?

biztos 4y ago

I guess he was pretty successful, but I think it's mostly his wife's inherited money and you have to count her offshore holdings to make him a billionaire.[0] [0]: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61490481 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61490481