Reflections on the crunch
As the first anniversary of Lehman's collapse approaches, what progress has been made? The former chief executive of Barclays takes stock
A moral renewal
Punishing our bankers and politicians won't deter them from wrongdoing; they'll just find new ways of acting as they please. Instead, they must be rehabilitated
Easy does it
Quantitative easing is risky, but it's better than deflation
Crisis watch
Just because many banks have been around forever doesn't give them the right to exist. Let's ditch them, and get new banks instead
What is a banker worth?
Attitudes to pay can change sharply from one era to the next. We are now entering a period of greater restraint at the top. But is it just a pause? And how will it be enforced?
The bonus problem
Bonus bashing is good politics. But is it also good economics?
The life & opinions of…
My relative John Sadleir was the greatest bank fraudster of his day. But, in a way, he was merely a century or so ahead of his time
The lesson of 1932
Banks are lending to other financial corporations but not to business. The Bank of England must buy bonds
Crisis watch
How many other Bernie Madoffs are the dozy regulators yet to uncover? Plus, why the Labour party should bring back clause four—and avoid zombies
Confessions
For a long time, I thought I was doing good as a debt counsellor. But I have to face facts: I was coaching people on how to wallow in the warm swamp of indebtednesss
The crisis: a reason to join the euro?
Is Britain running the risk of a sterling crisis by staying out of the euro? Or would it have been in an even bigger financial mess had it already joined?
Pay-as-you-go finance
We'll never get rid of booms and busts. But a Tobin tax on capital transfers would at least help us pay for the bad times