Gloomy moi?

(By Richard Holway 11.00pm 23rd Apr 09) Jon Moulton has made more of a career out of being gloomy (and right!) than even I have. Jon seems to be giving even more speeches than normal right now but Moulton’s gloomy risotto analysis in the FT today deserves our full attention.

Even by his own apocalyptic standards, Jon Moulton could not have given a more gloomy analysis of the UK economy at a City dinner this week.

The outspoken founder of Alchemy, the private equity group, noted the only green shoots were to be found in the risotto served with the main course, conceding that "substantial social unrest" was possible, not to mention greater socialism and social intervention, before concluding that "very few recessions of this depth have not ended in war".

The evening would have been uncomfortable for any friends of Barclays: Mr Moulton handed out page 103 of the bank's recent results announcement and used the table on "Unobservable Profits" for a coruscating critique of the penchant for opaque financial disclosure in the banking sector.

I’m sure that has made you all feel a whole lot better.