The profitable delusion shared by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair

Tony Blair and Bill Clinton must be very happy about how they have fared since leaving political office, for each has since become enormously rich. Tony Blair may well be the richest British prime minister since the 14th Earl of Derby in the 19th century, and Bill Clinton is among the ten richest American presidents ever (richer even, it is said, than President Kennedy) — not bad for the child of a junior tax inspector in Edinburgh and for one from a poor and dysfunctional family in Hope, Arkansas. But to temper our envy we may note that what they have gained in wealth they have been losing in reputation.

This is especially true of Blair, whose permatan, chartered private jet, and ‘good body’ so creepily admired by Wendi Deng would make him impossible to take seriously even if he hadn’t messed up over Iraq. And the sense that he is some kind of alien is strengthened by his consultancy deals with such countries as Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Abu Dhabi.