When I first heard that recession was about to blight the country I was excited.
�Great!� I thought. I�ll be able to walk into any restaurant at any time and get a table; all the pubs will be empty; I�ll get my pick of holidays at peak times and at knockdown prices; all the shopping centres will be quiet instead of akin to Old Trafford on match days; if I need any work done on my house I�ll have tradesmen falling over themselves to give me a decent quote and they�d be able to start immediately.
Dream on!
In practice none of the above is true. Hospitality outlets are still bursting. Holiday companies, it�s true, are offering discounts, but all the half-decent packages have long since been snapped up. Shopping centres are mobbed out. I wanted some work done on my bathroom � three of the five traders I contacted could not fit me in this side of June.
Then I had a little think. In reality, unless you are heavily dependent upon investments for your income, the only people worse off are those who have been unfortunate enough to lose their jobs. People with mortgages have seen the cost of them slashed. Shops are offering goods at huge discounts. With falling property prices people buying a house more expensive than the one they currently have are laughing as the difference they have to find is less.
Of course, savers outnumber borrowers by about eight to one and their income has been slashed to provide cheaper mortgages, so it could be that factor which is driving the �recession�. But I must say, I have not noticed any of the symptoms I was so looking forward to.