The main message here is the unremitting strength of the mortgage market.

The main point though is that output growth has now been below trend for five quarters and we can't see that changing over the next year or so,

The figures are a mixed bag but what's quite striking is how low output price inflation remains despite the general background of higher input costs.

The figures are better than expected and although petrol prices have come down, there is an improvement in core rate of inflation.

The figures are significantly better than expected and may call into question whether the MPC will raise interest rates at its July meeting. Clearly there are no inflationary pressures in the near term.

The current account deficit was very disappointing. What we hadn't factored in was the greater outflow due to overseas earnings in the UK.

The economy has been growing at a sub-par pace for five quarters now and we cannot see that situation changing over the next year or so.

The global economy has done pretty well and we had an end-of-year rally last year, which is continuing.

Children might inherit certain genes that incline them to interact with their environment in very 'stimulating' ways. This stimulation could then influence brain development. . . . What is less likely is the idea that we are born with a certain set of genes which 'fix' at birth our intelligence and the trajectory of our brain development.

Children with the most agile minds have the most rapidly changing cortex.