What happens when there is a mass loss of confidence in the financial system? This very contemporary question was put in unexpected historical context for me this Christmas by a book I was given, A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum. It is based on one hundred radio lectures given by MacGregor (which can be heard here) about items from the Museum's collection, each chapter discussing a specific artifact. Some of these are mundane, such as an arrowhead or a drum, while others are grand, such as the Rosetta Stone or a Welsh gold cape. For someone like me who has spent his life designing products and thinking about how objects acquire personal and cultural[...]

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