I wonder if any of the Tory numpties in government and on this board have ever read Adam Smith, the great and ancient guru of the right? Smith advocated free market economics, but he wasn't an economist; he was a moral philosopher by both education and inclination. He always qualified his view of markets by saying that they would only be acceptable in what he described as a truly moral society. That's the root of the problem now; the amoral, venal nature of those making decisions in banks, media and government means that markets are truly free; free to ride roughshod over those unable to defend themselves from the excesses of those with power and money. Smith must be turning in his grave to see what has been made of his ideas.