Please allow me to join in with everyone else in the world and note that of you or I were to print our own money, we’d be in trouble.

Of course, just because everyone is saying it, doesn’t mean that it’s without merit. There are a lot of crimes that stop being crimes if you scale them up enough. Murder on a big enough scale becomes war; theft on a big enough scale becomes socialism; printing money becomes economics; and fraud becomes politics.

Actually, all of the classic seven deadly sins ‘scale up’.

Lust (Latin, luxuria)

Lusting too much is a bad thing; lusting far too much has resulted in Hugh Hefner being something of a leg end.

Gluttony (Latin, gula)

Overeating at one meal is a bad idea, and pretty damn unsightly. And yet we’re all becoming massively fat, so it isn’t all that bad.

Greed (Latin, avaritia)

We know that greed is bad, and we dismiss those who act too greedily. But then we all look greedily at those Sheiks with gold cars.

Sloth (Latin, acedia)

Being a bit lazy is bad; and yet how many people don’t work and don’t regret it?

Wrath (Latin, ira)

Unjustified anger is bad. So how come Gordon Ramsey has made a career out of it?

Envy (Latin, invidia)

Obviously a bad thing, and yet the entire country feels justified in being envious of yer RBS guy with the huge pension.

Pride (Latin, superbia)

Goeth before the fall, or so we’re told. And yet the entire point of politics seems to be based on a hell of a lot of pride…