October 2013: that was the week that will be

Although I don't post on financial or economic matters I was lately, like everybody else, avidly reading everything in the news on these questions. Yesterday, I came across a fine piece of economic fiction, which is not so fictional because it takes place in 2013, only five years from now, and loved it.

What a week! The utility-dominated FTSE 100 celebrated the fifth anniversary of the crash of 2008 with a 2 per cent gain to close at 1,950, its biggest five-day surge since early 2009.

The excitement followed indications from Oleg Deripaska, executive chairman of BP, that the Russo-British energy group might resume dividends next year, breaking away from the pack of UK-listed blue-chips that have been husbanding cash since demand for their goods and services slumped and recession began four years ago.Read On...