What makes Britain rich?

Did anyone see this on TV last night? I rather hoped it might feature lots of new young millionaires in need of a reputable banker, but in fact it was more of a survey of the economy, with Peter Snow looking astonished that agriculture should now account for a smaller hunk of GDP than "finance" (us). I nearly turned off when they interviewed some moron who had remortgaged his house to soup up his car. Fifty thousand quid he'd spent. On brakes and a sound system. Insane. He made some joke about his daughter forgiving his squandering of her inheritance, although I strongly doubt she has.

Anyway, they got to the HNWIs in the second half of the programme. John Caudwell was shown looking very comfortable in his Jacobean mansion, confessing to having made the whole of Stoke-on-Trent "a little bit wealthier". They were trying to get him to say that his wealth must have come at the expense of someone else, but he quite firmly set them right: "wealth creates wealth". Bravo.

They interviewed only one private banker - some Citi fellow I didn't recognize - who cheerfully informed the public that the rich were getting much richer, and you could sense the mental rubbing of hands together as he said it. More clients, more assets - more fees...

But the prize has to go to Felix Dennis (who is apparently spending £250 million to create a new broadleaf forest of 30,000 acres). When asked what the wealthy have in common, he declared that most rich people are "shits".

Good for you, Felix. If any of my clients caught that, I'd love to have seen their faces.