Economy surges a little bit

I've been talking about whether the economy is as bad as a lot of commentators appear to believe a fair bit on this blog. Today's Guardian contains a very good analysis of what's actually going on in the economic notebook section.

The point being made in this section is that retail sales have indeed picked up but then so is the discounting in which the retailers are indulging. It's not difficult to sell twice as many shirts this month as you did last month if you're cutting the price in half. It's not a sign of confidence.

Overall spending is up. But it's not up by much, and I have to agree with the analysis that says there's no particular reason to expect this increase to become a trend - particularly when it's backed by debt rather than cash.