David Parkin wonders how you are feeling and meets Marilyn Monroe at Wetherby

HOW are you feeling?

Not in yourself, but economically speaking. Do you feel moderately confident, positively buoyant or still in the financial doldrums?

For the first time in about six years, most people in business I speak to are feeling better about their economic circumstances and are viewing the future with some degree of positivity.

But by no means is it rock solid confidence.

Take various reports in the media this week.

Today a couple of surveys, including one from employers’ organisations the CBI, highlight that Britain’s economic prospects are the brightest they have been in more than a decade and optimism among consumers has surged to its best level in nine years.

The CBI said its May survey of manufacturers, retailers and firms across the service sector showed the economy growing at its fastest pace since its records began in 2003.

Yesterday I read that car production in the UK was more than one fifth higher in April than it was a year ago, with a glut of new models helping to bring British car manufacturing closer to its 1970s peak.

But then I also read yesterday comments by two men, one called Weale and the other named Beale.

Martin Weale, an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, said in an interview that Britain needs to start raising interest rates sooner rather than later if it wants to avoid sharp and painful increases in the future.

He said he thought even a “gradual” rise in interest rates could see borrowing costs rise by up to one percentage point a year – faster than markets are expecting.

Then Graham Beale, chief execuitve of Britain’s biggest building society, the Nationwide, warned that savings institutions will suffer “a stampede” of customers defecting to National Savings & Investments (NS&I) next year because of exceptionally generous products for pensioners promised by the Chancellor ahead of the general election.

He said the launch of £10bn of pensioner bonds would cause “a lot of disturbance in the marketplace” because private sector banks and building societies would not be able to compete.

You can’t ignore the evidence that some major economic indicators suggest things are picking up. That is backed up by surveys from organisations like the CBI who provide a touchstone for the opinions of business leaders and entrepreneurs.

But then you have economists getting twitchy about us going from bust to boom to bust again far too quickly.

You can never avoid recession, it is part of the natural economic cycle. But the recession we are emerging from was certainly the longest in living memory. At least five years of tough economic times, where businesses, if they managed to survive, felt that they were wading through treacle trying to make ends meet.

So in our haste to avoid too big a boom, let’s not put the brakes on the recovery. Businesses don’t feel fully confident enough yet, it seems, to commit to big investment.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer, and neither do a glut of stock market flotations. That, in part, is fuelled by City institutions desperate to generate some fees and bonuses after years of near famine.

So let’s continue with a steady recovery, putting the brakes on too early will put business on the skids.

As for the comments of Graham Beale, I don’t agree.

If there is one group of people who have seen a squeeze then it is pensioners. Any Government action to help them get the benefit of a lifetime of saving and sensible budgeting is a good thing.

No one should be punished for prudence. If our financial institutions can’t provide them with products and investments that benefit them, then Government-prompted help via NS&I is very welcome.

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I PAID a visit to Wetherby Races last night.

A guest of innovative research agency ResearchBods, it seemed strange to go to a jump meeting in late May with summer almost upon us.

However the chilly, damp weather was more reminiscent of Wetherby’s winter fixtures.

Pitched as a ‘Ladies Evening’, there was a fashion show and lots of women had dressed up to the nines for the event.

Trying to catch the mood, I bet on two AP McCoy runners, Bespoke Lady and Very Stylish.

Despite being heavily backed, they didn’t come in as winners. I should have known, both races were sponsored by my old employer, The Yorkshire Post.

I consoled myself by buying some tea towels the newspaper is currently selling which feature maps of the route of the Tour de France through Yorkshire, created by the YP’s talented graphic artist Graeme Bandeira.

At the entrance to Wetherby there was a red carpet where guests were greeted by a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like blowing them kisses

and posing for photos.

One wag observed that she looked more like former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher than the iconic film siren.

Later on, she reappeared to sing a rather breathy Happy Birthday to a lucky racegoer.

I’m sure it was meant to be reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe’s memorable song to President John F Kennedy.

Although I think the breathlessness was due to asthma.

Have a great weekend.