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His remarks that economic times are "arguably the worst they have been in 60 years" prompted a right old furore.

If I were him, I would certainly be asking some serious questions of my press officer.

It would have been naive to think that what was probably pitched as a lifestyle piece was not going to cause a commotion.

The article was, like Mr Darling, remarkably unassuming. In case you missed it, and I guess many would have, it was in the Guardian's Saturday Weekend magazine alongside an interview with Keira Knightley and a feature on bizarre book titles.

The chancellor had allowed a feature writer to join him at his Scotland holiday retreat, where he talked openly about his family, lifestyle and political views.

It is the kind of thing politicians do frequently in order to come across as real people.

His comments predictably sparked a response from Tory leader David Cameron, who accused Mr Darling of talking down the economy.

We all know television personas and magazine features are a very different proposition from what a person is actually like.

I have never met Mr Darling personally but I have been in the same room as him on several occasions.

Politicians invariably come across as trying too hard - either arguing their case, or wanting you to like them.

But there is something understated about Mr Darling. He is amiable and remarkably down to earth without trying to be.

The problem is where you draw the line between frankness and being too honest.

It is true that the Monday after his interview was published the sterling dived a few pence against the euro and the dollar. But would you not rather have a chancellor that was accepting of the political climate than one that was deluded?

You would think a football manager was mad and unrealistic if he told his players they could still win the game when they were six-nil down and two players short at half time. You would rather he rallied them to do the best possible and improve their performance for the rest of the match.

The UK is fighting against a world economy that is facing huge rises in costs - and the reality of this is that it is likely to stay that way for some time.

The US economy is going backwards and that is having a knock-on effect on UK business too.

Plus banks also seemed to have learned that giving easy credit was perhaps not the best business decision ever made.

These are factors that to some extent are beyond the chancellor's control, but that does not mean he does not get flack for the affect they have.

Mr Darling's problem, as I predicted in these pages when he was first appointed, is that unlike other cabinet roles he is the only person who cannot blame his predecessor for bungling the economy.

He has to sit back and take the flack.

An autumn of discontent

Economists keep telling me that our current financial situation is almost identical to that in 1973 to 1974. This is despite the fact that for the last five years we have been hearing how the economy could not collapse because we had low unemployment, inflation and interest rates.

What they do not mention is the high bout of consumer borrowing, but that is a factor too.

Of course, as someone in their early 30s I cannot testify to this but looking at the data the similarities are staggering.

The autumn of 1973 saw a fourfold increase in the cost of crude, which shot up from $3 to $12 a barrel, brought an end to the west's long post-war boom.

Commodity prices also started to rise. We had the first ever incidence of stagflation - where the economy falters but inflation rises, on this occasion from 9.3 per cent to an eye-watering 26.5 per cent.

Okay, we have nothing today to compare to the collapse of the Bretton Woods exchange rate system. But 1973 did have tumbling share prices: the FT 30 stock market index lost 73 per cent of its value.

Under Ted Heath's government unemployment topped the 1m mark and increased by 300,000 during the recession.

According to figures from Nationwide Building Society, by 1972 house prices were increasing at about 30 per cent to 40 per cent a year. But when prices started to fall it caused huge losses for secondary banks that had been lending heavily against property.

The Bank of England was forced to bail out about 30 smaller lenders to the tune of about £100m.

Seeing long-lost friends again

Glancing at the Daily Mail's best-buy tables this week brought a rare smile.

After weeks of being dominated by Cheltenham & Gloucester, Woolwich, Abbey and HSBC suddenly there were some long-lost friends.

Returning after months away were Principality, Yorkshire and Britannia.

This competition from smaller players was what brought rates down before.

Let us hope they can continue because it only spells good news for consumers.