In view of this, it is quite alarming to note that of 11 million mortgage borrowers in UK, only 20% currently have any form of independent insurance to protect their mortgage repayments in event of accident, sickness, or unemployment.

A large number of borrowers wrongly assume that State Benefit will protect their mortgage repayments if they are off work sick or lose their jobs. But in actual fact, only 30% of people who put in a claim for State Benefit in respect of their mortgage repayments receive any help. This is because: - If you took out your mortgage on or after 1 October 1995 you will not receive any State Benefit for first nine months of sickness or unemployment.

- If you took out your mortgage before 1 October 1995 you will not receive any State benefit for first two months. After that, you will, subject to eligibility, receive 50% of full entitlement for next four months.

- If you and/or your partner have more than £8,000 in savings, you will not receive any State benefit. Restrictions also apply if you have more than £3,000 in savings.

- If your partner works for more than 16 hours a week, you will not be entitled to State Benefit.

Time changes things.

So, to understand a thing, it is often helpful to go back to see what thing was originally supposed to be. Understanding economics is no exception.

The word economy can be traced back to Greek word oikonomos, which means one who manages a household. From oikonomos was derived oikonomia, which had not only sense of management of a household or family, but also senses such as thrift, direction, administration, arrangement, and public revenue.

The first recorded sense of our word economy, found in a work composed about 1440, is the management of economic affairs, in this case, of a monastery. Economy is later recorded in other senses shared by oikonomia in Greek, including thrift and administration. What is probably our most frequently used current sense, the economic system of a country or an area, seems not to have developed until 19th Century and has played a much larger role in 20th Century. The root word relates to household management, which of course includes money, but encompasses much more than simply money management.

While economic concerns tend to cluster around money, there is more to economics than accounting. In same way that money has a way of touching every aspect of life, roots of economy also reach into every aspect of life, as well. Consequently, an economy is about culture and morality as much as it is about money and business. In fact, it could be argued that monetary aspects of economy are outward manifestation of more subtle and intricate aspects of culture and morality.

John Carver made a similar observation in 1980s as he began to think about why business and non-profit organizations worked so hard, but tended to gain so little ground. Following many advances in modern management techniques, he began thinking about why it was so hard to put them into practice. His thinking centered on boards—the many non-profit and corporate board of directors whose job it is to guide their various organizations. He observed poor performance of board work everywhere he looked.