EXTRACT: Perhaps summing up the Zeitgeist, Alessio Rastani, the
now infamous stock market trader, almost cheerfully told a dumbfounded
BBC News 24 presenter that that the euro zone is “toast” and that,
apparently, nothing can be done about it - “Goldman Sachs rules the
world”, not governments. He also admitted that he and his colleagues
“dream” of moments like this, as the economic crisis - and possible
complete crash of the banking/financial system - provides them with
plenty of opportunities to make
loads of money. Rastani
also advised anxious viewers to “be prepared and act now” unless they
want to watch their savings and investments disappear down the drain,
though what he expects ordinary workers to do (set up their own hedge
fund?) was left unstated.
Now, at the very last minute, there are frantic attempts to cobble
together some sort of plan, any plan, to avert a catastrophic collapse
of the euro - which would send the world spinning into chaos.
Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, urged government
leaders to “demonstrate their sense of direction” and a spooked Barack
Obama - terrified of the implications for an already recession-hit
United States - declared that Europe’s financial crisis is “scaring the
world” and that the actions taken so far by its leaders “haven’t been as
quick as they need to be”. But there is an oppressive sense that events
are running out of control and that it could all be too little, too
late.
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