The analyticalreport by IMFsaidtotal market value of U. S.stock markets declined by 23 percent duringMarchtoSeptemberthis year and the situation in Britainwas about the same.
Next month the Committee on Standards in Public Life - whose recommendations for changes to MPs' expenses set the groundwork for the current system - will publish in its annual report a "stock take" of the situation.
That sets up a counterintuitive situation in which the stock market might react more favorably to weak September jobs data than to a strong report, which would lessen the odds of additional monetary easing.