Sir, – We are drawing near to yet another budget of stealth taxes and savage cuts, and the news of the national economy remains grim. Greece is still a fiscal mess, likewise poor Portugal, and Italy is teetering on the brink of a financial crisis. And while we hang onto every word uttered by the “other troika” of Merkel, Sarkozy and Lagarde, may I humbly propose a new collective noun for the times we are in? A weariness of austerities. – Yours, etc,