Guido likes to think we are more than just a political gossip blog providing readers with the finest in tittle-tattle for a decade.

We’re also a think-tank:

• November 15, 2013  Flaws in the Ed Balls “Cost of Living Crisis” Attack Line
• January 2, 2014 Data Shows “Cost-of-Living Crisis” About to End
• January 14, 2014 End of Ed’s “Cost of Living Crisis”

January 24, 2014, George Osborne’s sock-puppet Matthew Hancock is arguing in The Times and on the Today programme this morning that the cost of living crisis is over:

Over the past year, from 2012 to 2013, things have started to turn around. New facts on take-home pay — the pound in your pocket — are stark. Last year take-home pay grew faster than inflation for every group of earners except the top 10 per cent.

In Davos today the PM is also hailing rising take home pay. You’re either in front of Guido, or you’re behind…