We are all familiar by now with several well‑tried ways to successful landownership. Cash in on grants of planning permission (everywhere and anywhere). Collect other people’s subsidies or tax breaks (agriculture). Take advantage of infrastructural improvements (road, rail). Leech on to improved social order (Belfast), devolution of political and administrative authority (Edinburgh, Cardiff),...

“Negative growth” means contraction. The UK economy shrank by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter of the year. Who has become worse off and in what way? Some people have lost their jobs, their homes, or their life savings. Things seem set to get worse.

A recession is coming, says Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, and there will be pressure on sterling. We have been, say commentators, living beyond our means. This does not altogether add up. Are we about to be subjected to an economic storm, blown in from the Atlantic like a weather system? Recession is a loosely used term which suggests a decline in the total size of the economy. Leaving...

In its autumn forecast, the Ernst and Young ITEM Club says that the UK is entering inevitable recession, with GDP forecast to shrink by 1% over 2009, followed by a slow recovery to just 1% growth over 2010. Even if recent government rescues have pulled us back from the brink, a lot of damage has been done and the availability of credit will improve only very slowly. Corporate profitability has...

It is astonishing how long-running Observer journalist and former Labour Party adviser Will Hutton manages to miss the point about the economy. Sadly he is at it again today. It is a pity because in his position he could shed light on what his happening and help people understand. Instead, he just adds to the fog of confusion. Will Hutton – Smoke clears to reveal the monster of rising un...

Very soon there will be a couple of million involuntarily idle people. There will also be a rash of derelict sites as vacant commercial buildings are demolished to avoid the business rate. There is a connection between the two. Whilst Britain’s flexible labour market has been much vaunted, there has no attempt to make Britain’s land market flexible. On the contrary. Increased demand...

Now that the immediate problems with the banks look as if they have been solved, is everything going to be all right? None of the commentators seem to agree, so we shall not venture to make predictions. The continuing wild fluctuations on the stock market suggest that nobody has a clear idea about how things will go. What is being done does not sound right but we could be wrong.  We can only wait...