Gill: Reviled here, BP cost-cutters rewarded in the U.K.
Pictures of oil-soaked pelicans have been a staple of the British press lately, but the new coalition government has not hesitated to flip the Gulf region the bird.
It is hard to put any other construction on John Browne's new appointment. As BP's chief executive until 2007, Browne bears much of the blame for the spill that has been polluting the Gulf and the wetlands for what seems like an eternity. He instituted the corporate policies that evidently led to the disaster.
Now he has been put in charge of the drive to cut the costs of public services in Britain.
Browne certainly knows how to cut corners and save money. The less he invested in safety and environmental protection at BP, the higher the profits soared. This earned him a reputation as a dab hand at corporate governance and the friendship of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, who made him a Lord in 2001.
The most notable fact of our times is the consistency with which members of the ruling classes are allowed to fail upward in spite of (or perhaps because of) the destruction they leave the rest of us to clean up in their wake.
Meanwhile, GOOD NEWS! BP stock is back up 20% over the past week They've weathered the storm and thank God because they're waay to big and important to fail now.
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