A year ago (more?), a fringe conspiracy theory did the rounds that the Conservative government wanted to destabilize the UK economy enough so that it could basically wipe the slate clean and start anew, with more idealised neolib ideals. Pesky hangers on from the welfare state (benefits seen as 'generous', human rights convention, the NHS etc) could be erased and blamed, and new systems put in place. The current system was just too hard to change. (Harder versions of this viewpoint exist, incorporating cashless societies in which centralised digital currencies can control what you spend money on, but that is getting a bit out there).
The disaster capitalism you see before you is merely the free-for-all capital grabbing during this period of 'collapse' (more like severe downturn, in reality) by opportunistic and greedy people.
So, when i look at the sheer mind-boggling incompetence of the incumbent govt, it makes me at first shake my head in disbelief but then secondly makes me suspicious. How can a set of educated people be so apparently dumb or non-reactive. Because they dont want to be? sadly, and this is on my head i know, the conspiracy theory outlined above lurches in from the fringes, even by just a little bit.
Brexit was the required framework in which to remove as much outside interference as possible as various insane fiscal choices are made. The IFS now think Britain's borrowing is unsustainable, the speed with which trade deals, or indeed much positive economic news at all, is happening has dried to a trickle. When you look at it all, you cant help but feel there might be a kernel of truth in the whole thing, that the Conservative Party would love to tear up the economic law book and start again, on pure Neolib terms. The desire to be more like the US system pervades UK politics (and has for years), so it should not come as a surprise.
