>>Not a single word about employment, standard of living, wealth of the country, production, nothing physical at all. Probably because these things don't matter anymore.
That's the natural progression of a bureaucratic entity that is not required to turn a new leaf every few years like a government. Before long the "great game" of politics, intrigue and selfishness becomes a self-contained purpose that no longer includes the aspirations of its citizen shareholders.
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1
