James Buchan Quotes

A collection of quotes by James Buchan.

James Buchan is a Scottish writer and novelist. Born in 1954, he studied at Oxford and worked as a financial journalist and economist before dedicating himself to writing full-time. Buchan has written numerous acclaimed novels, including "A Parish of Rich Women" and "Heart's Journey in Winter." His works often explore themes of identity, history, and politics. Buchan's insightful and thought-provoking writing style has earned him numerous awards and a dedicated readership.

There are signs that the age of petroleum has passed its zen

There are signs that the age of petroleum has passed its zenith. Adjusted for inflation, a barrel of crude oil now sells for three times its long-run average. The large western oil companies, which cartellised the industry for much of the 20th century, are now selling more oil than they find, and are thus in the throes of liquidation.

Age

Up until the Depression, recession had a moral character: it

Up until the Depression, recession had a moral character: it was supposed to purge the body economic of the greed and excess that attends a business expansion.

Business

One of the consequences of the Iranian revolution has been a

One of the consequences of the Iranian revolution has been an explosion of history. A country once known only from British consular reports and intrepid travelogues is now awash with historical documents, letters, diaries, grainy video, weblogs and secret police files of questionable authenticity.

History

In rising financial markets, the world is forever new. The b

In rising financial markets, the world is forever new. The bull or optimist has no eyes for past or present, but only for the future, where streams of revenue play in his imagination.

Future

The west has a great deal to answer for in the Middle East,

The west has a great deal to answer for in the Middle East, from Britain's belated empire-building after the First World War to the US and British policy that condemns modern Iraq to the material and social squalor of a half-century ago.

War

The year 2008 was a reminder to those who had forgotten that

The year 2008 was a reminder to those who had forgotten that there is such a thing as history and that the cycle of famine and feast in commerce, first identified in antiquity and well understood in the Middle Ages, was not suddenly abolished in modern times.

History

Were there peace and justice in the Middle East, the Arabs w

Were there peace and justice in the Middle East, the Arabs would no more need their tinhorn dictators than they would their corpulent princes.

Peace

Any new financial order for the world must tackle the three

Any new financial order for the world must tackle the three chief challenges of our age.

Age

For all their current prestige, Osama bin Laden and the suic

For all their current prestige, Osama bin Laden and the suicide bombers are still regarded in all but the most desperate districts of Gaza or Peshawar as romantics with little chance of more than symbolic victories, however bloody and brutal. That gives both the Middle East and the West a small and distant hope of security.

Hope

Since the attack on the United States on September 11 2001,

Since the attack on the United States on September 11 2001, and the US retaliation in Afghanistan and Iraq, there must be few people who have not felt a twinge of nostalgia for the cold war.

War