Brian Groom has noticed how un-recession like this recession is. Specifically, how it differs from his memories of the wrenching structural change wrought in the early 80s:

"What marked out the 1980s was a combination of deindustrialisation and its geographical concentration in the north, Scotland and Wales. A generation's skills were no longer needed. Now things are more diffuse. Britain is more prosperous, so parts of it feel wealthy even after a sharp loss of output."

He is right- despite the complaints from all quarters about how Britain needs to shift from Financial Services (all of 8% of our GDP), the need for similar structural change is less now. This is not the 1980s. 

Fiscal change, well that's another matter. It means the likes of Gideon Rachman having the temerity to utter the cliche "welcome to the politics of austerity".  It is also why news stories about people being willing to work longer for their pensions - based on an FT/Harris poll - are worth reading.  Quite cheering.  Also quite cheering is the news that the Americans are getting their comeuppance for Buy American. 

A slightly more awkward topic for the fans of liberal, unprotected economics: does that mean that buying the farmland of starvation-afflicted Third World nations is OK?  Some call it 'farmland grabbing'.  The Economist calls it, more nicely, "the third wave of outsourcing". 

I am having a genteel discussion with an LSE professor about the merits of inflation as a way out of the financial crisis. Wolfgang Munchau is on my side.

If you have the time, and want to be reminded that the Internet has not killed 'real' journalism, pause to admire Megan's detective work around a book, "Busted", about an Everyman victim of hard credit selling.  Her astonishing detailed understanding of the bankruptcy procedures of California, and light writing style combine to make an interesting investigation with curious moral implications. Superb - the best blogger out there. Off her own initiative, she discovers two bankruptcies that were not mentioned in the book, and which utterly change the backdrop to the author's narrative. The author has responded to her.