The Balloon Bursts - Global Credit Crunch

Thanks for your questions about the money crisis. These are my thoughts.

'I don't know much about world finance', said my brother's wife, Anita, ' but I know that if you continue inflating a balloon it will burst.' Now the balloon has burst, but financial experts bleat 'We didn't see it coming'. I did. For two years I have felt in my stomach that things could not go on like they were, and I have said so.

Our international community recommend a way of life. Its values include simplicity, balance and stewardship. In the Companion Book to our way of life ('A Pilgrim Way: new celtic monasticism for everyday people' published by Kevin Mayhew) we advise people to avoid unnecessary debt, not to borrow more than we can repay and to invest ethically. Aggressive banks have borrowed thirty times the amount they have in assets. Before you use a bank, find out if its assets are greater or less than its borrowings. Only invest in responsible and ethical banks. I have transferred my meagre savings to a Co-operative Bank ethical fund.