The world is at present in a precarious debt crisis; none more so than Greece, the US and UK. The lessons of a few years ago have not been learned.

As those aged 50 and over will remember from their younger days, getting into debt was a social stigma. When we could not afford to purchase something we either did without or saved until we could pay cash for it. Should we have wished to borrow from the bank for a mortgage etc., we attended an appointment with our bank manager and if we were lucky we attained a percentage of what we required.

Over the past 20 years or so we have been inundated with flyers, phone calls, tempting easy loans, credit facilities, credit cards etc. What’s more, references are not required, a permanent job is not essential and there is no age barrier.

We have therefore inherited instant gratification to acquire what we want with little hassle.

It is still a credible characteristic of the more mature to pay as they go, including instant payment of accounts arriving at their doorstep.

This, painful to surmise, world economy is very slowly beginning to realise that one cannot get out of debt by endless borrowing. I was encouraged to read David Cameron last week finally realising that the only way out of the UK’s financial crisis was for people to pay off their loans, credit cards and save money.

May other countries follow suit and Malta, as a religious country, especially set an example and adhere to biblical principles – “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1st Timothy: Chapter 6, verse 10).