SIR – The full contents of Ian Parsons’s letter ‘Growth is false hope’ (T&A, November 3) convinces me that he is no economist. So I should not think Lord Skidelsky will think much of his support on opinion of the Chancellor, nor will the latter wilt at his condemnation.

I believe expert economists, perhaps not including Mr Parsons’s historian friend, estimated a growth figure of 0.2 per cent taking into account his beloved Labour’s fiscal stimulus, and therefore the additional 0.6 per cent had nothing to do with the dreadful previous administration.

I wonder what Lord Skidelsky’s considered opinion of the profligate Brown is, since he was responsible for a large part of the requirement for any stimulus in the first place.

Philip Bird, Nab Wood Terrace, Shipley