It wasn’t long ago that Professor Guy Fraser-Sampson and I were sipping coffee in St. Christopher’s Place discussing the Eurozone crisis and other woes of the day. I had seen him on brilliant form as a speaker at an Editorial Intelligence discussion on the state of the UK economy only a few days earlier, and it was a privilege now to get his perspective on what was really going on behind the headlines.

He also told me about his exciting new book – “The Mess We’re In” – which is to be released tomorrow on Elliott & Thompson. Not one to shirk controversy, Guy argues forcefully (and with characteristically sparkling wit) that, left to their own devices, those who govern us will always place their own personal short term interests as career politicians over the long term interests of the country. This financial and economic crisis  has been created by political ineptitude, and the irony is that we look to the very people who have got us into this mess for the answer. In order to fix things, we not only need to look to financial solutions, but we must also re-think our system of government and reflect more thoroughly on the type of society we want to live in.