Thanks so much for the important insight, Clare. It’s interesting to realize that the word “talent” originally referred to a unit of measure or monetary value, not a type or degree of ability. Our current usage comes from the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), in which the servant who saved rather than invested is rebuked by his master, while the servants who made a profit are promoted!

To me, there’s something a little sinister about the word “talent” in the current economic and political environment. I think it reflects the near ubiquitous belief (particularly among financial types) in “meritocracy” – namely that the “smartest guys in the room” got where they are because of their innate superiority and not by luck of birth, schooling or by surfing the biggest credit bubble in history.

And it was particularly worrying when Gordon Brown said he wanted a “government of all the talents”. What he meant, of course, was a government of the unelected – no doubt drawn from the pool of “talent” that is currently benefiting from all those tax-payer bailouts!