Goat prices, the FT and predicting the crash

Who saw the crash coming? Well, careful readers of the FT would have recieved some warning. I refer not to the work of Gillian Tett or Martin Wolf – although both can claim some credit – but to this short story by Julian Gough, an Irish novelist based, which was published in the FT.  Gough’s account of the inflation of goat-prices in Somalia and their impact on the global economy now seems eerily like an allegorical warning of what was to befall us.

Mr Gough has now been rewarded – either for his literary flair or his economic insights – by having his story dramatised on BBC Radio 4. If you hurry, you can listen to it here - before they take the link down next Friday. The Hollywood movie goes into production next year, although the part of the goat is yet to be cast.

The World

with Gideon Rachman

About this blog About Gideon Blog guide
Gideon Rachman and his FT colleagues debate international affairs. Read more on the authors.

Gideon became chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times in July 2006. He joined the FT after a 15-year career at The Economist, which included spells as a foreign correspondent in Brussels, Washington and Bangkok. He also edited The Economist’s business and Asia sections.

His particular interests include American foreign policy, the European Union and globalisation
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