The Archbishop of Canterbury has recently attacked payday lenders, such as Wonga. He also has stated that the Church of England will support the English credit union movement and compete head-on with payday lenders (see FT video below). Just go to the Wonga website to see the extortionate interest rates that they charge - 365% pa!
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.