The good news story that Osborne wants you to hear

 
There was much sly amusement earlier this week when George Osborne, responding to the latest growth figures, described Britain as “a safe haven in the storm”. The idea that our high inflation, low growth economy might be a “safe” anything seemed, to many, a grotesque idea. But, in truth, the Chancellor may have had a point — and it’s a point that he’ll want to make again and again as the recovery stumbles on, and as other indicators fluctuate against him.

What the Chancellor was referring to, I’m sure CoffeeHousers know, is the interest rates set by the markets on the UK bonds that fund our borrowing. Broadly speaking, the higher the rates, the less certain our creditors are that the Exchequer can meet its debts. The lower, the more confidence they have in our creditworthiness. So we ought to take some heart from the graph above, which shows that the rates on benchmark 10-year bonds are on a downwards trajectory, and pushing towards their lowest level for years.