The Spectator

Do wars always start in years ending ‘14’?

Plus: What to buy with your bitcoin before it’s too late

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Alexander Larman

What happened to the Rishi Sunak I knew at school?

How have economic indicators changed since last year’s budget?

2013
Economic growth (quarterly) -0.1%
Unemployment (16+) 7.8%
Inflation (CPI) 2.7%
Trade deficit (quarterly) £8.5bn
2014
Economic growth (quarterly) 0.7%
Unemployment (16+) 7.2%
Inflation (CPI) 1.9%
Trade deficit (quarterly) £8bn

And what about house prices? It depends whom you ask:

Annual change March 2013
ONS +3.3%
Land Registry* +1%
Nationwide -1.1%
Halifax +1.9%
Annual change March 2014
ONS +5.5%
Land Registry* +4.2%
Nationwide +7%
Halifax +7.9%

*Land Registry figures for England and Wales;others are for UK as a whole.

Socks in bits

The future of the bitcoin virtual currency seemed to be in doubt. How you can spend your bitcoins before it is too late:

— 50 pairs of Alpaca socks from Grass Hill, a farm near Williamsburg, Massachusetts: 1 bitcoin
— Dinner at the Firehouse BBQ grill in Salt Lake City: 1 bitcoin
— Around 30 haircuts from Josh Arias in Reno, Nevada: 1 bitcoin
— One ticket on Sir Richard Branson’s yet-to-exist Virgin Galactic spaceship: approximately 400 bitcoins

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