I have never thought much of historian Niall Ferguson’s ideas.   For years he has been arguing that America and the West suffer from too little religion, while simultaneously arguing that the Islamic world suffers from too much.    One is tempted to ask for this spiritual Laffer Curve to be quantified and differentiated, so that we can determine the optimum level of religion for our society once and for all.  At least we could then stop having to accuse him of inconsistency, which surely must wrankle him.
But, despite the shere impossibility of the task, he has managed to plumb even shallower waters.   Barack Obama is like Felix the Cat in that firstly . . . ahem, how do I put this without upsetting those of you who’ve been asleep at the back of the class these last few months?  . . .   apparently, they are both black.   Are such superficialities bordering on racism the content of lectures these days at Harvard Business School?   Shame that some adult at the FT did not object before publication.
And, as further evidence of his tin-ear for conversation in the public square, his defence is a doubling-down.