I tend to think that the emotional collectivism of sport is rather a more harmless substitute for darker, more dangerous emotional mass movements.

Well this is an often-made point, and hard to refute. British friends have told me that if Soccer were banned there would be mass violence in the streets immediately, and I think I believe him, having once been attacked by a group of soccer fans on the Fulham road many years ago coming out after a game. You learned to cross the road smartish and keep your head down.

I don't think it should be banned, it as its best a beautiful game, but security needs enormous upgrades here, and serial offenders need to be permanently removed from the scenario.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty