As we move forward into the Third Millennium AD the perennial problem of unmanageable debt is still with us. As if to prove the point, in late November 1997, the Tokuyo City Bank in Japan closed down its business, reminding the world that default still stalks families, institutions and governments. It seems that little has been achieved in handling debt since 1216 when the Magna Carta limited the actions of bailiffs against debtors willing and able to make payment. Current literature about consumer credit, business finance and mortgages reveals the urgent need to tackle the ethics of...