Some newspapers are describing Mervyn King’s recent declaration of ‘no money left’ as a ‘coup’ against Gordon Brown. What King (governor of the bank of England) said was that further stimulus-flavoured borrowing wasn’t really a practical options, despite Brown, I gather, being quite keen on the idea.
The ‘coup’ interpretation is that by effectively depriving the government of the credibility necessary to get through another stimulus plan, King has usurped Brown’s role as policy-maker, taking control into his own hands.
Obviously this is metaphor, not to mention hyperbole and, perhaps, onomatapoeia. But it’s also a perfect example, if you look at the unexamined assumptions, of reification serving to normalise the power of the bourgeoisie.
