For all his celebrity, Vince Cable is not exactly an economic genius – as those who have read his book, The Storm, will know all to well (Specator review here). But he is seldom tested on this point, as he encounters broadcasters whose line of questioning is normally “tell us, Sage of Twickenham, what is happening.” For those who don’t regard him as the new Oracle and have wanted see him put through his paces, Andrew Neil – Cable’s former student – gives his old master a grilling on the BBC News Channel. In the interview, Cable gets steadily more irritated (and rumbled) and admits to having flip-flopped.
The Cable phenomenon illustrates the gulf between economic and political reporting. As a business hack to went into politics, the contrast has always struck me.
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