...the US has a finance and policy elite defined by college ties and related social connections, an elite with a strong sense that only people in their circle can really be trusted, and that their institutions must be saved at all cost at taxpayer expense if necessary.
- Robin Hanson
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They're also connected by an arcane world view which overrides and yet bolsters those ties.
At our house, we refer to this phenomenon as 'The Bubble'. In this case, not the financial bubble, but rather a social 'bubble', in which the inhabitants migrate between the academy, government, higher reaches of business, as well as certain foundations and charities. They went to certain schools(and in some instances, churches), and their children do the same, destined to marry and live 'inside the bubble'.
They set policies for institutions and political entities, and manage to remain relatively sheltered from the consequences of those decisions.
It is an oddly detached life, akin to plantation life in the 19th century South, and its inhabitants often seem barely cognizant that they live this life. It's just the life they live, the same as all their friends.
As I said before, the Industrial, Agricultural and Scientific Revolutions put too much money in the hands of the 'wrong' people. Our current problems, and the debt explosion, has enable the 'right' people to redress that balance.
I watched some Scottish MP describe how Blair and others had a free university education, and now were charging students tuition. He referred to it as 'burning the ladders after them'.
It's known as The Political Class.
See Peter Hitchen's excellent book of almost the same name.
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