Everyone has an opinion. Image: adesigna

Imagine this. You are driving along following a reasonably successful holiday—or at least a not-wholly-disastrous change of scene. To your unfolding amazement, the road is clear: no road “works” and no congestion. You have put aside your macro anxieties—war, climate change, Katie Price; and you are likewise enjoying rare psychological respite from those of a more personal nature—hair, weight, the staggering tedium of your life thus far. You are not required to make any decisions, there are no strangers in view whom you find attractive and there is nothing to spend your money on or to remind you that you haven’t got any. In other words, you are happy.

Thus, foolishly buoyed, you reach for the radio hoping for a programme worth a sentient adult’s time and the very first thing you hear is the presenter’s voice saying: “With regard to the global economy,