I can't help get the feeling, however, that the whole retail rat race is a red-herring when it comes to the nation's economic well-being. "Essentially [we have] returned to relying on the consumer to drive economic growth," said the ITEM Club. That kind of thinking has got us in to trouble before - the last high street boom accompanied a housing boom, when people cashed in the equity on their rapidly rising house prices to spend, spend, spend. It didn't last.
Again the government seems to think that housing will be the answer to all of our economic woes. Now I'm not against building more houses - watching some of my colleagues attempt to find affordable places to rent is as clear a signal as you need that supply is way out of kilter with demand. But I agree with permabear Albert Edwards that we don't need "moronic" policies that stoke prices, when already sky high houses prices are leaving young buyers deep in debt.
I'm worried that policymakers, ever looking for the path of least resistance, may view strengthening consumer or housing markets as a signal that they no longer need to worry about the painful process of sensible economic rebalancing, like rebuilding a meaningful manufacturing capability, for example.
Certainly, theory will tell you that re-establishing such a base is no more than a naive pipedream - that domestic manufacturing simply couldn't compete on price with developing world factories. Yet it wasn't that long ago that retailers like M&S generated significantly higher profits than they do today, despite producing huge volumes in Britain - and selling, many argue, higher quality products. The race to the bottom in price hasn’t done them, their former suppliers or the local economies they once supported much good at all. China, meanwhile, has thrived taking over such apparently low value - but in reality highly skilled, and value adding - tasks from us.
It's good to see, then, that over the past few years large retailers have started to bring some production back - M&S's well received autumn/winter collection, for example, includes a Best of British range, manufactured entirely at home. Unfortunately it will only be available in five UK stores; Asos, another supported of British garment manufacturing, has produced just 35,000 items with partner Fashion Enter over several years, a fraction of its overall volumes.
But we shouldn't be put off by the fact that it will take many years to revitalise the skills base that we've neglectfully shipped overseas - support it, and in time a lazy afternoon at Westfield really could help make Britain a more productive place.
