What will we be better off without?

Back in the 1960s an old Welsh steel magnate’s son, who in his youth in the 1930s had been immensely rich but had by now fallen far behind, was asked by my father what he thought about the likely result of the general election.

“I don’t care who gets in”, he replied, “so long as they put an end to this damned prosperity.”

Economic growth has its downsides as well as its benefits. In this week’s issue, Venetia Thompson and I list thirteen of them – the idiot trends and self-indulgent nonsense we won’t miss from the last fifteen years.

What are yours?