Boardroom Tails: Anti-elite mobs run out of steam
Populists fall into line with elites after gaining power, writes Ann Crotty
This anti-elite movement doesn’t seem to be making much headway on the global stage. It may be because the business model behind anti-elitism isn’t compelling. Essentially, the market is cornered by the elites and there’s no way they’re going to give an inch to a mob of populists — particularly as that mob never manages to get any further than voting for some colourful (or scary) character. Inevitably, that character becomes less colourful as he or she falls in line with the elites. As Matt Taibbi wrote in Rolling Stone: "In a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organised greed always defeats disorganised democracy." Last week, the Financial Times carried the story of UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s likely capitulation on three of the key promises she made after dramatically winning the Conservative Party’s leadership battle. May has abandoned the proposal to put workers on company boards and looks set to ditch plans to make the shareholder vote on executi...
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