13 SEPTEMBER 1997, page 30

Conspicuous Consumption

ECONOMISTS talk about discretionary spending: parting with money when you want to and not when you have to. This boom is notably heavy on spending and light on discretion. Most......

Fire Down Below

TRANSLATE into French: 'So sorry to hear about your fire last week, old boy.' `Psst, you fool — it's next week.' This exer- cise for underwriters (`Je suis &sole, mon vieux......

Mark Of Respect

I HOPE that the Commonwealth's finance ministers will observe a moment's silence in honour of the late Mobutu Sese Soko of Zaire. Their annual boondoggle convenes in Mauritius......

Savage Cuts

I HAVE a tip for the Monetary Policy Committee: the chap with the right idea about inflation was King Henry I. In his reign the price of corn rose sharply because, as the......

City And Suburban

It's a boom, it's the Gastrodome Factor in action the British economy is overeating CHRISTOPHER FILDES I have been vouchsafed a new insight into the British economy. It's......

Yes, Yes, Yes

ANY arrangement that does not favour Scotland, said the Scotsman, will be per- ceived as unfair. On this principle the Trea- sury arranges to raise money in England and spend it......