Ariadne Grumble played a small if largely unheralded part in the rise and eventual fall of capitalism in the second half of the twentieth century. Without Ariadne’s commitment to creating shortages of inessentials the retail market is unlikely to have been quite so buoyant for so long.

Ariadne inherited a significant fortune from her uncle Mussen Grumble who’s invention of the homing truss gave new hope to all herniated agrophobics. She used her new found wealth on the excessive acquisition of products as diverse as scented candles, nodding dogs and disposable fire irons. By so doing she created panics in certain sectors of the consumerist economy, leading to scurrilous and sensationalised headlines by bored tabloid business writers that induced other panic buying with initial boosts to the economy but eventually creating the conditions for a spiralling decline into debilitating financial despair.

Continue reading at  TanGental