Finance? Well, it’s simple, really …

Saturday 20th September 2008, 9:58AM BST.

AT last I think that I have fathomed the world of high finance and it actually seems quite simple, if unhelpful.

Money only stops being virtual when it runs out. Nick Leeson might have been jailed for it – after all bringing down a bank all by yourself is no mean feat – but isn’t this whole current mess really about everybody speculating and then not clawing the cash back in time?