Loft insulation: the original lagging indicator. Just how much political mileage will Gordon Brown get out of a campaign to carpet the nation’s roof-space with mineral-fibre matting? The answer could be a better gauge of his destiny than more conventional economic indices, such as inflation or unemployment.

So far, the signs are not good for the prime minister: he has promised no “short-term gimmicks and giveaways” in next week’s energy package – so there are bound to be plenty; the law of round numbers is in force (expect a “£1bn initiative”, even if none of that cash comes from government); and companies, led by the energy suppliers that refused to fund fuel bill rebates, have shown a distinct lack of enthusiasm for attaching their brands, let alone their balance sheets, to the plan.