Realistically, a 5% tax rise should prompt a 5% spending cut, with the earning power lost to inflation adding more belt tightening. You can't squeeze blood from a stone. Workers have no money.

What is astonishing about the way banks cheated their clients by colluding to fix exchange rates to extract higher sums is not only that they did this to what they called “Numpty's”, but when they did this.

The gold price drop is more a temporary result of the stratospheric rise of the dollar against other currencies rather than a lack of appeal from the yellow metal. But as I warned last week, I have no idea when this will reverse.

Sweden has reached the real bottom line. Their central bank has cut interest rates it charges to banks to zero for 0.25%.

Nokia is up smartly after it reported a really significant rise in Q3 earnings, with revenues up 13% to euros 3.32 bn and net earnings up 32% thanks to network deals.

For the stock market conniptions of the past two weeks, lower oil prices were a sideline in the panicky and bizarre sell-offs.