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09
Britain Bombing?
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Just one question regarding Forbes list of the world’s richest people. What does it say about the state of British business that the UK’s highest entrant on the list, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, inherited his wealth ($11 billion) and ranks at a lackluster number 55 in the world? (Before you ask, Richard Branson is at number 230 with $3.8 billion.) Here’s the Top 20:
For the complete list, stats, articles etc see Forbes’ World’s Richest People.
9 Comments
March 9th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Hi Paul,
One, if the various sheikhs/sultans/etc in the middle east were prepared to be so vulgar as to declare their wealth they would knock these small fry into a cocked hat
Two, we have messrs Mittal and Abramovich higher up list than Grosvenor
Three, The wealth of individuals is not directly linked to the wealth of the state as a whole.. Ref Spain, Mexico and India which are all poorer countries but appear high on the list you blithely parroted
To answer you question then it says nothing about British business as you should well know having I undertand recently penned some tripe on this very subject
March 9th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
You are funny Beau.
1. If you look at the Forbes site you will see that royals and dictators are not included in the list.
2. If you look at the list you will note that Mssrs Mittal and Abramovich are not British citizens.
I hardly think that just because a Russian oligarch prefers the relative safety of London to taking his chances in Moscow qualifies as a British business success.
3. I’m not talking about the wealth of the state. I’m saying that you would expect a country like the UK to be bulging with entrepreneurs—at least in technology, retail and finance, if not commodities. Where are they?
March 9th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Hi Paul
Well concerning point one if that is the case it’s a daft list and in no way reflects the world’s richest people does it? If it was the list of rich people who are not royalty or dictators then it would be fine. Or equally the list of people Forbes want to sleep with, again fine
Point two you got me good and proper but i’m not inclined to read through all the intricacies of your posting if there is even a remote chance I can bring you down with a cheap shot
We have to pay heed to the principals of fair trade as we are in the EU unlike you chaps who protect your manufacturing industry by banning/crippling foreign importers… why do you think you are driving round in pants American cars rather than cheaper and better Asian ones (as is now the case in the UK)
The sky is blue here in London and the early evening sunshine is streaming through the windows, going to the pub now
bye Paul
March 10th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Speaking of look alike doesn’t Gerald (No disrespect to him) look like Nick Griffen of the BNP?
March 11th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Paul,
England has a lot of relatively middle class people and a strong bureaucracy – neither encourage entrepreneurship. To quote Janis Joplin “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” – if you’re quite middle class comfy, why risk your comfort sinking it into a business which may leave you bankrupt? Branson is the perfect example of someone who had very little to lose (he was terrible at school, and blew out his leg ruling out athletics) going balls out. In addition, the fact that England has laws which prevents things like collusion, as well as poisoning the populace also makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to get sickeningly wealthy.
Beau,
Have you been to the US? Many people drive around in Asian imports – my family has three cars (shut up, yes we’re stereotypically American in that respect) and not a one is American. They’re all Japanese. Incidentally I know an English girl who drives a Ford Fiesta; a car not sold in the US.
March 12th, 2007 at 5:45 am
Hi Million Paths,
You are quoting Kris Kristofferson & not Janis Joplin.
Yes, have been to US many times and driven various abominations such as Chevy Impala, Dodge PT Cruiser & Ford Mustang. Yes you do have lots of Asian cars and European cars too but far less of both than you would have if it was a free and unfettered market
March 12th, 2007 at 8:20 am
JK Rowling is in there too, and she’s hardly what you’d call a captain of industry
March 12th, 2007 at 11:05 am
I actually work in a steel mill run by JK Rowling.
March 16th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Beau,
Lyric wise, I stand corrected.
However, I think that you are underestimating the degree to which prevailing culture plays a role in car purchases. For starters, when given a choice most Americans like big cars. Furthermore, many of the people I know who do drive domestic cars do so because they view it as unpatriotic to buy foreign imports. This is a sentiment you’ll find strongly in the south and midwest. What cars are driven and by whom is a very regional thing; dictated more strongly by culture then by pragmatism. And that culture is very different then the car culture of Europe.
This slate article: http://www.slate.com/id/2096958/ does a good job of laying it out. Europeans drive in their cars, Americans, increasingly, live in ours.
I’m not saying we don’t have protectionism, I’m just saying that I don’t think the effects of that protectionism is as strong as you think it is. You hated the Mustang, I know a lot of people (my cousin for one) to whom that was his dream car (he has a green one.)