Economics were on my mind when I went for my weekly shift at the vineyard last Friday. It was on my mind at 5:30am when I paid £24.70 for a train ticket to get me there, and it was on my mind 12 hours later when I got my net daily wage of £46.50. Doing a full day's work for a profit of £21.80 might seem tough; but when you read the ghoulish headlines about banks folding with multi-billion dollar debts it doesn't seem too bad.
In that light, even the notorious high-risk economics of vineyards start looking attractive. For...