We know that the government’s borrowing spree is going to have to be repaid by someone. But who? That’s the question the Pre-Budget Report ought to address.
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Gordon Brown invented the golden rule so he cannot complain that he is being beaten with it. But a smart spin-doctor might still argue it has not been broken despite soaring debt.
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Is capitalism dead? If the world banking system can survive only with state support, what chance the rest of the economy?
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Call it a mathematical trick, but if a bear market is a 20 per cent fall in share prices, a bull market must rise 25 per cent just to get back to where it started.
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The banking crisis has reached a healthy phase: it is now safe to let a bank go bust. Until now the state has feared one insolvency would cause others.
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Having demanded a stamp duty holiday, the housing industry ungratefully dismissed the one-year suspension as insignificant. But it’s not the start of the holiday that will make people buy, it will be the end.
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Good news: oil has fallen below $100 again. Bad news: the pound is down as well, meaning much of the gain on fuel costs will be missed by UK manufacturers.

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The histories of mutual businesses and the Labour party are intertwined but by allowing Nationwide to takeover two other building societies it looks like the love affair is over.
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It is ironic that the chancellor’s Guardian interview blamed poor communication for Labour’s troubles – yet he failed to communicate clearly his comments that Britain faces the worst economic circumstances for 60 years and failed subsequently to clarify what he was trying to say.
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The banks got into trouble with 100 per cent mortgages, so why does the government see such loans as the solution? Lenders can’t take an equity stake in homes that have no equity.
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