The threatened mortgage guarantee market in the US betokens an economic crisis, says Philip Blond. But the real tragedy - often overlooked - is the betrayal of Fannie Mae's original mission to house the poor.

In a provocative short article in the International Herald Tribune newspaper, Phillip Blond argues that the dominant neo-liberal model of global economy is in crisis, and that both the political right and the political left have failed to understand the nature of the challenge this embodies.

In a move that is designed as a challenge to "consumerism as usual" and a reminder of the dominance of money in our lives, the Methodist Church in Britain has launched an alternative Credit Card containing a "buy less" message.

Leaders of the world's biggest grouping of Reformed churches have compared the effects of neoliberal economic globalisation to the transatlantic slave trade, and said that Christians need to combat this modern form of "enslavement".