“Record low” doesn’t cover it

The problem with charting Gordon Brown’s economic slowdown is that the phrase “record low” is not enough. Take today’s data from the British Bankers Association. Its mortgages approval was 27,968 in May – a record low. But the month before, 34,752 was also a record low. And March, at 36,788 was the lowest since 1997.

All this matters because what Brown served up to us these last ten years was not prosperity. It was a a mirage, borrowed money, wealth that we didn’t own in the first place. Borrowed against made-up house prices, whose dizzying heights didn’t bother Brown as long as it sent stamp duty up by the same amount.

It is crucial to remember that Britain’s economy was kept alive by “equity withdrawal” – a phrase which may come to sum up the Brown bubble, the idea of using your home as an ATM. While these mortgage approvals plummet, and house prices with them, so too will the rest of the economy slow.