In the race to sacrifice the public good for private profit, England has once again taken the lead. Could this be our future?

(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling this week will introduce guarantees for mortgage-backed bonds, allowing buyers to sell the securities at no loss, an effort to revive lending and wean U.K. banks off government aid, two people familiar with the plan said.

The Treasury will offer guarantees for about 50 billion pounds ($73 billion) of the bonds through the new mechanism, the people said. Treasury officials hope the backing will help banks now dependent on state support to write loans.