The headline reads like a miracle: a six-year-old Ebola patient, snatched from a DR Congo hospital, has been found and is 'doing well'. UK-funded health teams are on standby. Splendid.
But let us examine the bottom line. This is not a story of triumph but a symptom of misallocated capital. The UK taxpayer, already buckling under the weight of gilt yields and inflation, is funding a rescue mission for a virus that has killed 2,000 people since 2018.
Meanwhile, the markets are bleeding. The FTSE 100 fell 1.2% yesterday, and the pound is trading at 1.
18 against the dollar. Where is the fiscal responsibility? This is a rounding error in the budget, but it is the principle that matters: we cannot afford to chase every infectious disease into the jungle.
The patient is fine. The market is not. I suggest we focus on the real pandemic: capital flight.
Central banks are printing money, and the only thing contagious is inflation. Let the World Health Organisation handle Ebola. The City has more pressing matters.
