GARRULOUS ex-Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has been sounding off again, this time about the UK inflation rate. Al reckons inflation will rise to over 3% on a regular basis, putting the squeeze on interest rates, and says the property boom will come to an end. But Americans are always saying the UK property boom is about to end. Perhaps they should put their own houses in order first.

DRINK and illegal drugs are reckoned by 40% of employers to be the major cause of absenteeism and poor productivity, according to reasearch by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD). The Government reckons that around £2bn (14 million working days) are lost to alcohol abuse every year.