Four little words George wants you to hear

The Chancellor went table to table discussing his new pensioner bonds.

Don't worry, that's not some later life version of Fifty Shades of Grey (although the title takes on a whole new meaning if that's the route we're going down).

Rather it's a way of giving savers something to offset the impact of low interest rates, which are helping people with mortgages but not doing a fat lot for those trying to build a nest egg.

The four aforementioned words are central to everything the Chancellor is campaigning on over the next few months.

'Stick with me and I'll make the country wealthy', he's effectively saying.

'Give the Treasury to the other lot and they'll undo all the good work."

It's really going to be a question as to how worth it the various upturns in the economy have been.

If the cuts imposed since 2010 haven't been worth it then Mr Osborne's long term economic plan is going to become an opposition pipe dream.

We're going to see him again before the election. He wants to set out a long term economic plan for the Midlands as well.

Hopefully this will explain what we're actually meant to do with the Birmingham and Black Country Combined Authority that council leaders signed up to recently.

There has been a lot of talk about a so-called northern powerhouse. And Mr Osborne is adamant he wants a rebalanced economy that does not rely as heavily as previously on the City of London.

If the north is the powerhouse, the Midlands cannot just be the passed over middle child, a sort of unappetising stale jam inside the doughnut that would be the rest of England.

We will see George Osborne again before the General Election.

It's about time we found out what exactly is on the table in terms of devolved powers and whether or not they are really going to make a difference.

The cost of naming and shaming

No employer should be able to get away without paying their workers at least the National Minimum Wage.

But I do have to wonder if a 'naming and shaming' policy by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is really helpful.

All the ones in the West Midlands on the past two lists told of either 'genuine mistakes' or disputes with staff over their attendance.

It's very easy to say 'well they would say that'. But in one case a hairdresser in Walsall, with 15 years experience, was in tears on the phone as she explained her side of the story.

There was a trainee, recruited through a college, who was supposed to have an increase after a year. No-one told the employer that. When it was brought to her attention, the payments were made.

The naming and shaming has been such a trauma it's made her wonder whether or not she wants to take on trainees again.

This is one example, admittedly. But when all the main parties talk of addressing the 'skills gap' and of increasing the number of apprentices, it's worth considering all the potential reasons employers might have for not creating them.

Getting your business's name published on a list of sinners for a one off mistake could well be one of them.