It appears that the real economic indicators for Alan Greenspan fall to a lower order of sophistication than we realise – it may be the underwear market that marks out the state of consumer confidence. Mr Greenspan suggests, with some sensible reasoning, that particularly men’s underwear is a key indicator of the state of the recession. Yet is it surprising that the smalls, the hidden things, are perhaps the most telling when it comes to addressing the major issues that we face? [...]