The ‘Magic Star’ Economy: What an Old Apple Variety Teaches Us About Modern Finance
In a brief but poignant letter to the Financial Times, a reader from Derbyshire, UK, lamented a subtle yet profound shift in our world. He recalled a time when new apple varieties were given names of substance and provenance, like the ‘Reverend W Wilks’, an apple named after a respected country cleric and secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society. This name tells a story of place, person, and purpose. He contrasts this with a new, supermarket-bound apple variety, engineered for a long shelf life and branded with the generic, evocative name: ‘Magic Star’ (source).
On the surface, this is a simple observation about fruit. But dig deeper, and you unearth a powerful metaphor for a seismic transformation across the global economy, from corporate identity to the very fabric of our financial markets. We have moved from an era of the ‘Reverend W Wilks’—grounded in tangible value, local identity, and clear lineage—to the age of the ‘Magic Star’—defined by abstract branding, global scale, and manufactured narratives. This evolution has profound implications for investors, business leaders, and anyone navigating the complexities of modern finance.
This article explores that transition. We will dissect how this shift from provenance to packaging manifests in corporate branding, the architecture of our banking systems, and the speculative nature of the stock market. Understanding this dynamic is no longer an academic exercise; it is a critical tool for discerning true value in an increasingly abstract financial world.
From Descriptive Names to Abstract Brands: A Corporate Identity Shift
The journey from ‘Reverend W Wilks’ to ‘Magic Star’ is mirrored perfectly in the history of corporate naming conventions. In the industrial era, company names were often descriptive and straightforward, reflecting their core business and geographical roots. Think of General Electric, Ford Motor Company, or International Business Machines. Like the cleric’s apple, these names conveyed function and heritage. They were solid, dependable, and told you exactly what you were getting.
The modern corporate landscape, however, is dominated by ‘Magic Stars’. When Google restructured, it didn’t choose a name that described its vast operations in search, cloud computing, and autonomous vehicles. It chose ‘Alphabet’—an abstract concept representing a collection of entities. Facebook, facing a
