Safe as the Bank of England

'The owners of capital will incite the working class to buy more and more costly goods, more houses and items of technology, pushing them to take out more and more lines of credit until the burden of debt becomes unsustainable. The outstanding debt will lead to the bankruptcy of the banks, which will then have to be nationalised, and the State will be forced to undertake a journey that will lead, eventually, to Communism.'

(Karl Marx, supposedly in 1867, though it's probably an urban myth, as quoted by Marco Niada, retiring correspondent of Sole 24 ore, at a farewell dinner held in his honour in the City, presided over by the Italian Ambassador to London and attended by a number of Italian bankers, 3 February 2009)