The 'Truman Show' Economy

[marmar]

Published on Monday, June 3, 2013 by Campaign for America's Future Blog
The 'Truman Show' Economy

by Richard Eskow


A Northern Ireland county made news this week when it literally created a false front of prosperity for dignitaries in town for the G8 conference. The Irish Times reports that County Fermanagh spent roughly £300,000 ($456,000 at today’s exchange rates) to conceal the shuttered storefronts and empty buildings left behind by economy-killing austerity cuts.

They were too close to the “sumptuous” resort where the meeting’s being held, says the Times:

The (boarded-up) butcher’s business has been replaced by a picture of a butcher’s business …. A small business premises has been made to look like an office supplies store … billboard-sized pictures of the gorgeous scenery have been located to mask the occasional stark and abandoned building site or other eyesore.

Many observers have called it a “Potemkin village.”

That expression which dates back to the (probably apocryphal) story about the head of Russia’s Crimean military campaign, who allegedly created false villages along the Dnieper River to reassure Czarina Catherine II that all was well as she sailed past. ............................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/06/03-4