The problem of productivity

The economy’s doing well, but productivity levels are still to recover from the recession. Should we care?   

Where are all the young drivers going?

The proportion of 17 to 20-year-olds with a full driving licence has declined by 13 percentage points since the mid-Nineties. This could undo politicians’ blueprints for the future.

Iain Dale: So you support plain packaging. Call yourself a Conservative?

Plus: Here comes Syriza. The Teflon Greens. Mystic Dale v Nick Clegg. The Political Book Awards. And: There’s no such thing as an illegal war.

Low pay is about more than just pay

A living wage is a well-meaning idea, but it’s also deeply problematic. Far better to sort out the tax and benefits system first.

WATCH: Cameron pledges full employment

The Prime Minister also promises “the toughest possible welfare controls on people coming from the EU”.

Sunder Katwala: What our State of the Nation survey suggests that Cameron must now do

The Conservatives have to balance attracting more younger voters while not ducking the immigration question.

Cllr Jason Frost: What Glasgow needs is aspiration and enterprise

And, happily, it’s starting to get it from charities operating in conjunction with the Church of Scotland.

Harriet Maltby: News from Britain for Obama. We may outstrip America within four years.

The Legatum Prosperity Index shows that we’re gathering speed and we’re catching up when it comes to prosperity.

How everyone was blindsided by oil prices (but especially Salmond)

With Brent crude trading at below $50 a barrel, the former SNP leader’s promises are now sunk at the bottom of the North Sea.

Philip Booth: How to stop worrying and learn to enjoy deflation

Stable wages and steadily falling prices should be a welcome combination.

WATCH: Osborne welcomes record low inflation rate

“We have family budgets going further and economic recovery now being widely felt.”

Welcome to the crazy world of the deficit numbers…

…and also to the first of our To The Point posts: short, revision-style notes on various policy issues.

Lord Ashcroft: The Conservatives enjoy a six point lead in my first poll of 2015

Plus: I have decided to prompt for UKIP when asking about voting intention; and are voters starting to feel the recovery?

Two thirds. Five sevenths. The proportion of unidentified savings that the two main parties are planning.

A probe of a key question as the election approaches. How big are the spending reductions that each major party requires?

WATCH: Osborne on Paris – “We all in the civilised world face this fight against people who want to destroy our values.”

The Chancellor on terror in France, the NHS, the Northern Powerhouse, the election debates – and the next election.