Amid the current banking crisis, it has been reported that finance workers are heading for the teaching profession, leaving the office for the classroom, exchanging the Financial Times for the Times Educational Supplement. It’s not about the money or job security, apparently, or even the longer holidays, but the search for a career that will provide a greater sense of fulfilment; a public sector job in a world in which people are valued. May it be so.

Tomorrow, Londoners get to choose between Boris and Ken (do the words, ‘rock’ and ‘hard place’ come to mind, I wonder?). Elsewhere too, local elections are taking place, providing another opportunity to reflect on what matters, for ourselves and for the society in which we live.

Certainly, the manifestos of candidates provide an index of local and national concerns, perceived and real: health, transport, housing, salaries, tax, crime, the environment, race... Not for the first time can we see how many of these play to our fears as well as our hopes.

When America sneezes, the infection quickly spreads through the global financial system. As a result of her recent ‘credit crunch’, lenders and debt junkies alike worldwide are being crushed by the weight of defaults. Greed has suddenly given way to fear, destroying the market value of major banks that have looked at their reserves and found they have none. Slashed interest rates confront us with the truth that money is not as valuable as we thought.