I remember years ago – it must have been in the ’70s – Margaret Thatcher’s appointing a businessman to her cabinet, after making him a Lord, in the belief that men (only men) who had succeeded in the ‘real world’ of business were what the country needed at the top. His first name was David; I can’t for the moment remember his surname or lordly title.

‘Most of my ministers’, Thatcher is quoted as saying at the time, ‘come to me with problems; but David brings me solutions’ (or words to that effect). What those ‘solutions’ were I fear we’ll never know, for David Whatshisname soon vanished from my political ken, and I suspect from most other people’s too.

The belief however that his kind, if given hold of the reins, were just what the world of politics needed to make it more efficient, has been a widespread view on the political Right for many years. It’s easy to see why: if you’re the CEO of a company you don’t need to bother much with democracy, which almost by definition is likely to put obstacles in your way. That’s why business people are constantly railing against politicians. And – I guess – why ex-businessmen like David (and perhaps Elon, just the other day) who have been enticed into the web, quickly get out.

America’s current experiment of turning itself into a totally and now blatantly business-led nation – with a real estate speculator President obsessed with money and ‘deals’, and most of his cabinet’s having enriched themselves in ‘the market’ – could be seen as the apotheosis, or culmination, of Thatcher’s (and Lord David’s) philosophy. And perhaps of the US itself, in this its (very) late capitalist phase.

(PS: Searching around later I found this: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/dec/11/lord-young-of-graffham-obituaruy. But that doesn’t impress me much.)