Let's face it: the topic of economics is something that’s as mysterious as the moon to most of us.

So, may I introduce you to the lovely Jacques Peretti who can take you by the hand and lead the way?

Then, come the revolution, you’ll at least have a handle on what’s going on...

Yes: revolution! If you missed the first episode of BBC2’s The Super-Rich And Us (so did I, first time round), you can dunk yourself straight into the truth, headfirst, on iPlayer.

Strap in, because it’s a bumpy ride! If you find yourself apathetic in general, this is a welcome shot of truth.

The lovely Jacques’ mission is to investigate how the uber-wealthy are transforming Britain. Forget the sweary amusement value of Life is Toff and other posh punditry. This documentary picks apart what the arrival of astronomical wealth really means for everyone else.

You might think the cigars-yachts-and-bling set inhabit a different planet from us peasants. But when it dawns on you that each of us has effectively forked out £24,000, courtesy of the government’s £375b bank bailout, which is then fed back to the super-rich, then you might start to feel a bit ragey.

Jacques’ brave delving into the facts, figures and philosophy around debt starts at the beginning, before things went wonky.

Being a BBC production, someone’s had a good old rummage around the archive of glorious 1970s footage – think witty clips of bell-bottomed parties, striking miners and Citizen Smith. The 1970s, as well as being my spiritual home, were an era of comparative equality in terms of richest vs poorest. Today? The top one per cent of our population own 14 per cent of the wealth. So, what went wrong?

Well, welcome to the Black–Scholes equation, conjured up by two brilliant mathematicians, to turn the economy into one big gamble. FYI: you don’t need to be an algebra whizz to follow this: Jacques explains how everything was put at risk, over the intense strains of Unkle/Thom Yorke’s Rabbit In The Headlights (a winning combo).

The American dream of everyone owning their own home was used as a political tool to turn us all into consumers. Cue footage of the dodgy-permed 1980s illusion of household prosperity (spliced with Working Girl and Full Monty for good measure) as well as interviews with CEOs and other members of the alpha elite.

Some, such as Countess Bathurst, insist criticism of their status is the simple jealousy of the have-nots. (“I don’t think they realise what it means to be someone like us. I don’t think they realise what a responsibility it is...” Resist the urge to lob something at the screen).

From the precarious plight of our increasingly freelance nation (zero-hours contracts, the cost of living soaring far from wages) to Barack Obama talking in biblical terms about the great divergence between rich and poor (“I believe this is the biggest challenge of our time”), our polarised society is an unstable one.

With the UK riots still fresh in our minds, as well as occupations and protests against inequality, the cracks are beginning to show.

How far you take your rage at being enslaved by debt, and what you do with it, is up to you.

But, better to be armed with the facts, before the day of reckoning comes. Thank you, Citizen Peretti.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.