“Money is a matter of belief, even faith: belief in the person paying you; belief in the person issuing the money he uses or the institution that honours his cheques or transfers… Money is not metal. It is trust inscribed,” wrote Niall Ferguson, the Harvard University historian, in The Ascent of Money.

The death of trust has been both the cause and hallmark of the credit crisis. Whether it is customers' loss of trust in the security of their banks, banks' loss of trust in their customers, or the lack of faith banks have had have in each other, trust has broken down and is only returning slowly.