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| Is the UK topping this table due to "greed" at the EU's expense? |
The height of 80s money worship is symbolized by the 1987 film Wall Street whereGordon Gekko, Michael Douglas' memorable character, reasoned that "greed is good." As a person who came of age during that decade, all I can say those were the days, my friends, even if I do not necessarily agree with the sentiment. Or has "greed is good" logic been consigned to the dustbin of history? Of all the darndest places, we are now being refamiliarized with the phrase in the age of COVID-19. Supposedly we're in this enlightened age where getting everyone vaccinated is in everyone's interests. Given the increased global interconnections we have nowadays, not suppressing the virus in one part of the Earth means that all of us remain vulnerable. Or so that logic goes.
Now we have reports that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson argued in private that "greed is good" when it comes to COVID-19 vaccinations. That is, the UK would not have controlled the spread of the virus in recent weeks had it not been greedier with allowing foreigners access to the vaccine:
Capitalism and greed gave Britain its success in vaccinating its population, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told lawmakers in a closed meeting, a remark that could rile up Brussels at a time when Britain faces an EU threat to block vaccine imports. “The reason we have the vaccine success is because of capitalism, because of greed my friends,” The Sun newspaper quoted Johnson as telling Conservative lawmakers on a Zoom meeting on Tuesday evening. Johnson then tried to row back and said: “Actually I regret saying it” and asked lawmakers repeatedly to “forget I said that”.
Needless to say, that statement is not playing well with other Europeans who are considered behind the UK in vaccinating their citizens. Witness the AstraZeneca vs. EU row over allowing vaccines made in the Netherlands to be exported to the UK (AstraZeneca has joint Swedish-British ownership). Fun times:
Britain has so far mounted the fastest COVID-19 vaccine programme of any big country. But it now finds its programme threatened by the EU, which has been far slower in rolling out vaccines and faces a third wave of infections. The European Commission is expected on Wednesday to extend powers to block exports, a move that could hit supply of doses bound for Britain. Johnson’s remarks come after a week in which British ministers have tried to calm the row.
Downing Street declined to comment on Johnson’s remarks when contacted by Reuters, but unidentified sources gave the BBC a bizarre array of explanations.The greed comment, according to the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg, was apparently a joke about one of his cabinet colleagues, Chief Whip Mark Spencer, who was gobbling a cheese and pickle sandwich while the prime minister spoke.
Cheese and pickle sandwiches, Gordon Gekko... and COVID-19 vaccines. These are interesting times.