Duncan Weldon’s excellent book, Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through, an economic history of Britain from the Industrial Revolution up to the pandemic, almost had a different title: “I wouldn’t start from here”, based on the old joke about the tourist asking for directions.
That is in fact the problem facing Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng as they survey the damage caused by last month’s mini-budget, and their rapidly diminishing room for manoeuvre.
