Current mood: So, is the bullsh*t economy about to tank too?

Sex, drugs and stocks-n-roll! Industry is back for a second season (all of it is on iPlayer now should you wish to binge it which by the way, I think, is how it demands to be gobbled up and yes, absolutely I mean on a work night). If, however, you are a more restrained person than me, or the employees of Pierpoint bank for that matter, a spoiler free soupcon of what to expect: Machiavellian scheming, cocaine-fuelled all-nighters and loadsa money.

On the topic of money, Industry is packed with financial lingo which to the untrained ear sounds like gobbledegook. That doesn’t diminish the show; on the contrary, it actually enhances it. The copious amount of (what I believe is officially known as) bullsh*t being spewed serves to highlight how much big trade deals are dependent on smoke and mirrors. How he – or she, the women do not play back-up, set-dressing roles in Industry – who shouts loudest and delivers their viewpoint with the most confidence will go the furthest. How the players are making up the rules of the game as they go along. It’s a condemning indictment of the corruption yielded not by power, but of what gets you that in the first place: entitlement.

All for the drama? A cursory look at the insane ineptitude and gamble tactics of the current government is all the terrifying confirmation you need that the bullsh*t economy is thriving IRL. You need only to skim the headlines of the last 24 hours to be reminded that the people on ‘top’ are perfectly capable not only of winging it, but employing unearned authority to justify their decisions (even on national television!). Their economic blueprints must look like finger paintings. So you’re clueless about what’s going on with your finances? Spoiler alert: so are they!

The ‘Masters of the Universe’ (so described by Tom Wolfe in 1987’s The Bonfire of the Vanities) have always been here, perhaps they always will be. But maybe, just maybe, we’re about to see a sharp downturn in the bullsh*t economy.

Laura