In fact, many of his biggest troubles as prime minister have derived from an excess of New Labour orthodoxy.

ECONOMIST: British politics

The drop in inflation is likely to be the most pronounced in the developed world because of vast amounts of excess capacity in both labour and product markets.

BBC: Viewpoint: Will Asia see further price growth in 2012?

These include labour-market measures and incentives for firms to shed excess capacity and debt.

ECONOMIST: Japan

The Labour-run local authority had originally planned a rise in excess of 2%, which government rules meant would require a full referendum.

BBC: Dudley Council backs council tax freeze

Insurance companies operate a system of squeezing the labour rate to repairers, restricting their hours allowed to do the job, and taking unnecessary excess payments off drivers.

BBC: Have Your Say: Replacement car costs