SIR – It was good to hear the new chairman of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, confidently predicting that the ‘recovery’ is established. Shall we examine that claim?

Firstly, I wonder what type of an ‘economic’ recovery can commence while the vast majority of paypackets continue to shrink, but no matter.

The Chancellor has very graciously decided to use (£12 billion of) our money to give 20 per cent (of the 25 per cent deposit required) to housebuyers. Therefore, he is actively encouraging people who cannot afford houses to buy anyway. How noble.

For simplicity, we could refer to these desperate housebuyers as ‘sub-prime borrowers.’ Any bells ringing yet? There should be, this is precisely what Wall Street was doing in the lead-up to 2008. It was irresponsible lending which led to the US housing collapse (followed by the global economic collapse). A rising property market tends to convince (economically-challenged) people that things are on the up. As a consequence they splash out (on credit), thereby fuelling miniscule economic growth.

Hopefully, the Tories will be re-elected before the repossessions (by the banks who did the lending) commence, thereby proving categorically that only the little people lose.

Christopher Hindle, Osterley Grove, Bradford