Financial freedom: money talks

I am currently reading Piers Morgan's new book, Don't You Know Who I Am?. I enjoyed his previous diary, The Insider, and I very nearly named this blog The Outsider as a sort of tongue-in-cheek homage. There is something about Morgan I rather like. He may be a (self-confessed) prat at times but I admire his energy, his cheek and his effervescent style of writing. I even have a sneaking regard for his apparent shallowness and persistent name-dropping.

Early in the book he recalls an interview, in June 2005, with Simon Cowell. Describing a moment in his life, ten years earlier, when a record company he had invested in went bust and he found himself completely broke, Cowell said:

"There was a weird sense of freedom at having absolutely zilch but still having the energy and desire to change my life for the better. I got rid of my house and swapped my Porsche for a £7,000 car I'd paid cash for, but that didn't embarrass me. It was just the way it was ... I vowed then never to borrow money again. If I could afford something, I would pay cash for it; if I couldn't, I would wait. In an odd way, it was a very good thing for me."

The book doesn't explore this issue further (nor should it) but perhaps we can. In a week when it has been revealed that in order to get on the property ladder some people are having to borrow up to six times their annual salary, future generations could find themselves in a financial straitjacket that may have serious repercussions for individual freedom. On the other hand (thanks in no small part to our ability to borrow surprisingly large sums of money), those of us who are not cash rich have the freedom to buy a new car, enjoy expensive holidays or indulge in home improvements that may have been denied to previous generations.

BTW, Simon Cowell is another man I admire. Neither he nor Morgan is a saint, nor do they pretend to be. Morgan likes a drink, Cowell likes a smoke. Together they would make excellent patrons of The Free Society. Watch this space.