Most religiously minded people eventually confront the realities that have prompted the reflections in this pamphlet. Characteristically, Francis Nicholson is careful to say that they are his personal reflections, based on his experience. But my hope is that Friends will contemplate Francis Nicholson's common-sense approach sufficiently to see the Quaker sense beneath it, even though there are many differences in perception within the Quaker family.
As for economists, they may be put off by the common-sense mode of discourse Francis uses; perhaps only the serious researchers among them will look beneath to discover that this common sense is demonstrably uncommon. My hope is that each reader encountering Francis Nicholson's reflections, based on an outstanding career of over sixty years in tumultuous financial markets, will find a stimulating mix of the Quaker sense of life as a whole and the voice of a competent professional trying to extract meaning from life in the twentieth century.
