You wait for ages for a good letter in the FT and suddenly two come along at once. It’s not just the eminent economists telling it like it is about the 50p tax rate this morning, but also another healthy dose of reality from the CEO of brokers Tullett Prebon, Terry Smith:

“To the ordinary person in the street, the idea that we can rescue ourselves from a crisis caused by excessive borrowing by borrowing even more must seem mad. In this respect they are possessed of far more common sense than those who are currently advocating just such a course of action and purport to be our leaders… The first step in rectifying this situation should be to make a clear and unambiguous statement about the actual debt the UK is carrying.”

Once messy public sector pensions, PFI and banking guarantees are taken into account, Smith believes out debt to be £3,589,000,000,000. MPs are reporting that their very own can arrived in the post this morning from Smith.  To keep on kicking:

Guido is amused…