So today is the day for Gordon Brown to start trying to spend our way out of recession and maybe at long last to announce a provisional increase in the top rate of tax.

Prior to the financial crisis of this year I had thought that it would soon be time for governments to realize that it was time to abandon the myth of continuous economic growth which is ultimately unsustainable in a planet with shrinking resources and poised on the brink of catastrophic climate change.

However, there is nothing in the current situation to indicate that there has been any kind of wake-up call about the stupidity of continuing to pursue the capitalist dream.

I'm staying in the world of Cockaigne.

www.oxfordcockaigne.com