Differing definitions of economic recovery | Letters

"Nonetheless, any progress in reducing the trade deficit is likely to be extremely slow in the near term, leaving the recovery reliant on domestic demand." So said an analyst quoted in your report on the UK goods trade gap having reached a record 125bn last year (Financial, 10 February). So, if I go out and exchange my four-year-old car for an expensive one that I cannot afford, apparently I shall have "recovered".

In fact, though the chancellor might be happy in the short term because of the VAT he would harvest, I should be feeling decidedly queasy wondering how I was going to service the debt I had taken on to make the purchase. But no, according to current economic theory, I would be in recovery. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Simon Gourlay
Knighton, Powys