"Bah!" said Scrooge. "Humbug! What's Christmas, except a time when the sector spends even more money on office parties, when they should be paying back all the money they owe me!" "But they can invest it wisely, uncle, and still have enough to make merry at Christmas time too," explained his nephew, who was now approaching Scrooge with a beaming face. "And then they'll be able to take out more loans from you in the future! I'm trying to raise the funds for a little mixed-use project of my own, but I haven't got a brass farthing to rub together... you couldn't lend me a little, could you - in the spirit of Christmas? Lots of other real estate banks are doing this now." "Keep your Christmas," exclaimed Scrooge, "and I'll keep my finance!" And with that, the old man hurried past his nephew and trudged back through the snow towards his house.The first spirit...It was past midnight that evening when old Scrooge had finally finished counting all his gold sovereigns. He had been asleep not