One of the more implausible parts of the dramatically thrilling but idiotic series “A Very British Coup,” about an extreme left-wing government in 1980s Britain being undermined by “the establishment” was that the Prime Minister solved Britain’s debt crisis by arranging a substantial loan from the Soviet Union in return for (if I recall correctly) kicking American bases out.

Suddenly, it doesn’t look that far-fetched. Gordon Brown’s crack financial team has decided to issue Sharia-compliant bonds in order to raise money from the Middle East. Old fashioned Treasury bonds just can’t cope with the Brown government’s profligate spending on nothing of value.

Meanwhile, if that wasn’t wrong-headed enough, Brown has not only essentially nationalized the British banking industry, but raised a question that, if the EU answers it the wrong way, as it probably will, may nationalized the whole of the European banking sector. Anatole Kaletsky explains.

Brown, astonishingly, has a reputation for economic prudence.