My dad wasn’t a clever man but he told me when I was young that if you shared all the money in the country out equally, inside a fortnight half of it would be back where it started.  I couldn’t see it at the time but I’ve started to understand the kernel of truth it holds.

Consider if in the great divi-up you got the “Citizen’s Share” of £100,000, what would you do with it?

Well, there’s only two things you can do with money (three – if you count giving it away; but this only displaces by one the other two).  You can spend it or save it.

So you spend it.  A house, a new car, a holiday, flat screen TV.  You’ve already started to give it back to Sony, Thomas Cook, Ford, McAlpine, not to mention all their intermediaries, suppliers and partners – Ryanair, estate agents, solicitors, ASDA, motor dealership and so on.

“Bugger that” you say, “I’m not giving it back to them bastards.  I’ll save it”.

But where would you shove a hundred grand?  In the banks?

I’m sure my dad was wrong about the amount and timeframe but I’m sure he was right in the head.