Read this looking for the quotes from Tim Martin before realising he was the author.

Excellent piece free of the preposterous fug that veils most writing about the pub trade. MA should offer Tim Martin a regular column.

What really irritates me is that everything that's happened to property values, banks and is about to happen to pubcos was utterly predictable - you didn't need to be an economics guru to know what was bound to happen - which ordinary household across the Western industrial nations hasn't had a conversation at some point in the last few years about the incredible upward spiral in property values, the rocketing rate of expansion of ever lower priced luxury goods into all markets across the globe. Of COURSE it was unsustainable. And now bankers and CEOs of pubcos act like they didn't know it was coming.

They are now, of course, unimaginably wealthy by all normal people's standards and not responsible for the crushing financial crises they've dumped on everyone else, but retiring early AND getting pay offs because their careers ended sooner than they were contracted to.

That the auditors should not have thrown up any warnings on this very public merry go round of obscene profligate corporate greed that led to everyone involved ignoring basic fiscal prudence is hardly a surprise. The suits have all been in it together, back slapping, nodding, winking, elbowing and rejoicing at their own cleverness in making impossibly large - lottery winning size - personal fortunes ultimately; at EVERYONE else's expense.

It's our marvellous public school system that encourages, promotes and condones such barrow boy behaviour at the highest levels of our society.