ALEX TURNER is the general manager of financial training firm Ambitious Minds
IT WILL surprise those that know me well to discover that I went for a run at the weekend.
My style is always more plodding than pacy, and the stopwatch’s main function is for me to make optimistic assessments of how far I’ve gone, rather than any requirement to record my time to the hundredth of a second.
Encouraged by the unseasonably mild weather, I tried a new route, venturing beyond the pavements of Newton-le-Willows and out onto the lanes and country fields.
All was going fine until early into the second half of the route, when a footpath forced me to head right when I was expecting a left. Not only did it take me farther away from the end, but it then brought me out at a point where I was only vaguely aware of where I was.
I no longer knew the shortest way back, nor did I know how long it was going to take. Instantly, my legs felt heavier and my head felt weary as I plodded on. And on.
It felt like the clock slowed, inclines got steeper and the ground got more uneven as I looked for a marker that I would recognise, a clear sign of the way out of the trees.
It is always much trickier when the best path is unclear and when the end becomes more of a general aim than a specific destination.
The uncertainty induces hesitation and trepidation, and it slows you down as you think about conserving energy in preparation for a longer journey.
Which is where we still find ourselves with the economy. Yesterday’s GDP figures showed a marginally- above-expectations rise of 0.5% in the third quarter, but there are few people confidently pointing to the way out.
As we start gearing up for the fifth Christmas since the run on Northern Rock, it is getting harder to remember the time when the economy was said to be in robust health (although a time which lots of businesses don’t remember as easy or particularly comfortable anyway).
But, as we collectively struggle on, some in better condition than others, we are looking around for the signs that the end is approaching, that the way out is becoming clear.
It’s the uncertainty and the not knowing that’s inhibiting – the nagging doubt about whether we are heading in the right direction or are, in fact, getting further away from the path to sustained economic growth.
