The preparations for this summer’s theatre production in the Reading Abbey ruins are progressing quite fast, especially on weekends, as so many amateurs produce the show. The posters announcing it have recently appeared. As chance would have it, it is “The Merchant of Venice” by Shakespeare. I will be gone by the time rehearsals begin next weekend, but the choice of this season’s play still strikes me as fitting. It will take me a while to figure out why I feel this way, though. Anything to do with Venice is fitting enough, of course, but what about the nasty old merchant? After all, I am an economist!