One of many fascinating aspects of the Credit Crunch is the way it puts the spotlight on money as a social institution. Madoff defrauded many close social contacts; bankers who lunched together or golfed together frequently don't trust each other enough to lend in the interbank market any more. But there are wider social aspects too, which were brought to mind by a George Orwell essay in a clever new Penguin title called Books v Cigarettes (clever because £4.99 for a slender volume with a fab retro cover which book lovers find irresistible when stacked by the till, as well as clever because of the selection of essays). Orwell wrote: “There never was, I suppose, in the history of the world a time when the sheer vulgar fatness of wealth, without any kind of aristocratic elegance to redeem it, was so obtrusive …the worship of money was entirely unreflecting and untroubled by any pang of conscience.” He was writing of his pre-first world war prep school, but those words seemed apt for the vulgarity of the financial markets and the oligarch money swilling around London and the grotesque salaries and bonuses top executives have been paying themselves. The essay speaks of the social (and psychological) chasms created by the centrality of money as a measure of value, in particular the way that ordinary boys like himself were despised by those from wealthy families, which is what made the parallel interesting. It has certainly been remarked that 'little people' with little money – ie. most taxpayers – are paying for the clean-up operation; what the social and political consequences of that will be are less clear, although I confidently predict one will be the end of exec bonuses and disproportionate salaries. Orwell notes that the inequality of the post-W1 Gilded Age was just as extreme as the pre-war type he suffered at school, but much less confident, more knowing and defensive. We may yet get the defensive phase of our own crisis but wise organisations will move straight to a restoration of non-monetary values and rewards. As a postscript, I wonder what other past writers, less well known than Orwell perhaps, are waiting to be rediscovered for the light they can shed on our situation? Suggestions anybody?