Profoundly unpalatable decisions are going to have to be taken for the sake of our survival and the possibility of future prosperity. It is not enough to say that confidence must return. Instead, great truths will have to be spoken: we are going to have to start being honest with each other about our predicament. Britain has spent and borrowed too much, saved too little and produces not enough of what the world wants. The banking crisis needs breaking down into two parts. First, there is what should be done immediately to end a cycle of despair. Second is what a future government should do to rebuild capitalism. The situation is that serious.
Iain Martin
Britain is not alone in its current distress, although the fall in sterling speaks for itself. The sovereign debt of Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Austria, The Netherlands, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Korea is all being tested by the markets. The core of countries deemed safe is shrinking by the day to a half dozen. Sadly, Britain is no longer one of them.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
