A ray of light?

It’s far too early to break out the Bollinger but yesterday’s suggestion from the European Commission that our economy will grow by 0.5% this year and by 1.9% next year is indeed cheering, even if only moderately so.

As the Chinese adage reminds us every journey begins with the first step and these positive figures are far better than the dispiriting data that has defined this economy for some years.

They are far better too than the predictions made for the greater European economy.

In its Spring Economic Forecast, the commission predicted the eurozone economy would shrink by 0.3% this year, with unemployment remaining at a high of 11% next year. The situation remains fraught and it would not take much to change these nascent trends into something far more negative.