Not much excitement ahead of what is expected to be a fairly flat pre-Budget report next week. There have been leaks aplenty (stamp duty, ISAs etc) and logical specutlation (inheritance tax, green tax reforms)but not much of too much significance.

Spending should be more interesting though, which lest we forget was what the old-fashioned Autumn Statement was all about. After the famine of his early years in office, and the feasts of more recent times, most economists expect Brown to stick to a strict diet on the public spending front going forward.

Mind you, it could all be so different if last year is anything to go by. Brown delivered a dullish PBR after an incendiary speech to the CBI that saw him unilaterally scrap the OFR. This week he delivered a dullish speech to the CBI and may be in the mood to follow it up with an incendiary PBR...