I've been busily putting together ideas on the topic of confidence recently, as I am confident that it's an important part of understanding investment (or at least the lack of investment) in the economy.

There's always the danger of overconfidence, or irrational exuberance to worry over, before getting round to trying to understand the lack of investment in the UK recently. Various theories offer insights into this problem, and Ruth Tarrant has covered the subject in a recent econoMAX article.

My latest find is this Economist video which addresses the issue of uncertainty; a concept very closely linked to confidence. Worryingly, uncertainty in the US economy is now judged to be equivalent to the level of uncertainty preceding the invasion of Iraq in 2003. How depressing.