What is with defensive americans on this site?

And by the way...you americans that think you made 'one of ou better decisions to defend he UK' ..please check your history book...Germany decalred war on the US weeks after pearl harbour not the other way round....

Keith West, London,

there is nothing good about punishment. suffering is good for nobody, even the greedy. but economic cycles are postponable but not unavoidable. this down turn will be ugly.

jose, victoria, bc, canada

The irrational hate for President Bush is humorous--you people would blame Bush starting the Vietnam War if you could.

Guess what, America could care less what the Europeans think of the America. That America has protected you Europeans for all of these years makes me think that we must be idiots.

The housing mess is not the fault of Bush but its impact will be felt in this country for years to come. And it will have an impact on the world economic markets, too. So let's all just relax and enjoy the train wreck.

George B, Los Angeles, California

All the American conservatives on here need to suck-it-up and keep your mouths shut. You know that this is all part of the Republican “survival of the fittest” plan. You've all been voting Republican for 40+ years now in order to “get even with those people”. You're almost THERE. Don’t give up now. Your house is a MINOR cost when looking at the big picture.

John, Sacramento, ca

Those relishing the housing crash might be envious but that doesn't make the crash any less real.

We bitter renters got sick of hearing about your unsustainable appreciation and how we "missed the boat". Now we get to watch many scramble for the exits. Ah, but it's too late.

It's good to see greed punished. Very good, indeed.

Dino Cazzo, Anytown, USA

Halloween was great. Thanksgiving will be better.

Its fascinating to see these sidewaik supervisors telling us we are going down the economic gurgler. This is a 10 trillion dollar mortgage market with 14 trillion in equity. About 2.6% of all mortgages are between 30 and 90 days late and .069% of all housing stick is in foreclosure. These are rounding errors, though sadly more personal for the over indebted.

Transactions are down about half, but real values are only off 6% on average after a compounding average run up of plus 100% over the last five years. A house with an 80% mortgage is still delivering five times the return of the S&P or FTSE.

Wishful thinking of the obviously envious indeed, coupled with a classic case of "English disease."

Andrew Waite, Phoenix USA

Andrew Waite, Phoenix, AZ USA

People forget 2.5 trillion dollars was wiped out in 2001-2002 in the net/tech boom bust and with inflation that would approach 3 trillion in todays dollars. Big banks are talking about setting aside a low-ball 100 billion dollar, or less, rescue fund for the sub-prime mortgage mess. Even if it turns out to be 10 times that size with all the intermixed leverage and insurance swap products, that would still only be a third the size of the net/tech bust. Clearly the US survived that handily even at the cost of many workers pensions etc.. This time the main difference this time is some low to mid income people will lose their homes instead of their pensions. You can make the argument, that the wealthy at the top first got workers pensions and now they are going to get their homes. But on strictly a money comparison the US can weather this. Perhaps this is how it reallocates one classes wealth to another class, but instead of trickle down, its sweep it up.

Brian Stewart, Los Angeles, usa

Wishful thinking of the obviously envious.

Bob Hall, New York, United States

Who is to blame for the economic slump in the US? If it was here in the UK I'm sure the blame would go to the immigrants who work had, pay more taxes, take no tax benefits or Child trust funds!!
SAolution: Keep on and do your best and every thing will pass.

Allen, London,

The US economy is in dire straights. Just to keep the "shop front" clear, the Treasury borrows 2 or 3 billion dollars each and every day to the newest economic giant on the block, China. Both the Chinese and Japanese are underwriting the US debt to the tune of nearly a trillion dollars. They own the back-yards in the US. With lousey free-trade agreements, importing more than exporting, the ratchet turns. Someday soon the foreign financial wizards will dump the US dollar wholsale. Get real america, there is no gold standard backing the dollar! You can't keep printing money to buy your way out of trouble! Forget about the worth of those tax cuts, their worth is really are just "of the moment". Your media loves to hide the truth.

PJP, brisbane, australia

The US 'Sub-Prime' Mortgage scandal which 'rocked' the Norhern Rock Building Society will possibly have further events to play out. Possibly other UK Mortgage lenders will also be affected by this.

One wonders if history will repeat itself again. Back in the 1970s under the then Labour Government of Jim Callaghan as PM, went to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cap in hand for massive loans to bolster the failing UK economy.

Whats this got to do with todays NU Labour Government under Gordon Brown. Well, Gordon could well be forced either to increase Taxation in 2008 to bolster the Treasury coffers. Or, even order 'Captain' Alistair Darling to make clandestine approaches to the IMF and World Bank for bail-out loans to cover the squandereing of public funds on hair-brained and half-baked projects. The 'ID Card' system comes to mind along with several other IT Projects. Then there the 2012 Olympics 'Project'. Its all got to be paid for - oh yes. Council Tax for one!

G Clerke, Chelmsford, UK

Atten: Gary Duncan. Re: Your excellent column of 11-03-07.
I cannot deny your comments about our faults and dubious decisions of the recent past, but I can say that this country (U.S.) has built into it, the provisions for corrective action. Our decision to support The United Kingdom in WW II was one of our best. We have an election coming up, and we are all hoping for the election of a great government that will move to correct some of our faults. We also are hoping for the support of the U.K. in that effort, whose priceless advice and counsel are admired beyond measure.
O Englishmen In Hope and creed,
In blood and tongue our brothers!
We too are heirs of Runnymede;
And Shakespear's fame and Cromwell's deed,
are not alone our mother's. (J.G. Whittier)
With utmost sincerity, I remain:
Kenneth B. Smith, P.E.
Former Naval Person, WWII

Kenneth B. Smith, P.E., Wilmington, United States/Delaware

America and Britain face similiar problems, the governments
and the people are too heavily in debt. American government
debt is approaching 9 TRILLION DOLLARS this is almost at
bankruptcy levels. Both governments need to increase
public spending by little more than inflation and use the
revenue from growth in the economy to reduce borrowing and
then run a surplus to start paying off this horrendous debt like
Australia is doing, and also give selective tax cuts to help the
working poor and the creation of wealth which will boost the
economies growth rate. When l was young we had interest
rates of 12%, now the English people cannot cope with
interest rates of 6%, so indebted are we.

Roger, Weymouth, England

This pundit makes some silly assertions. How can we know how much home heating bills will increase this year when we don't know what the winter weather will be? Most householders heat with natural gas, not oil, and many have multi-year contracts guaranteeing a set price. And, Ian, Clinton also left Bush with an unsustainable stock market bubble. When this burst, the infusion of revenue to the Treasury disappeared. The tax cuts helped offset the effects of this, and were one of the few things Bush got right.

Barsoomian, Toledo, Ohio

If you think that you have only 13 more months til you get rid of Bush then watch 'Endgame' by Alex Jones on Google video or on www.prisonplanet.com - its probably the most disturbing thing you will ever see... no easy escape for anyone.....

john, London, United Kingdom

Americans deserve the leaders they vote for - Nixon Carter Reagan Bush Clinton Bush perhaps another Clinton(?) surely in all of the USA they can find someone who has been properly educated, can speak coherently and not drink to brain damage levels and keep his pecker in his pants?

Frank, London, UK

I am glad these are views of Americans and not so called "US thumping" Brits. However, I do support their sentiment. Let's hope for all that the word Bush will go back to only being known as a small tree!

Richard D, Plymouth, UK

That she has survived and will survive Bush, speaks of America's strength.

eugene, heidelberg, germany

The mood in America would improve should The Bush Junta resign en mass.

I live in a Republican stronghold and even they are talking how bad this administration is for everything.

Forget Iraq we all know that is a lie, but everything is out of control.

Republicans are dying for the day when they get rid of this curse.

So 13 more months to go.

Please attend one of the welcome back America days on Jan 21 2009.

In the meantime pray for all the innocent villagers who will be bombed in Afghanistan and Iraq as the effort to kill Osama gets more desperate by the hour.

Anything that moves is in danger from US bombs and covert death squads.

And that's the real truth

AlexH

Alex Hogg, salt lake city, us

A shrewd estimate of our American situation within its narrow focus. But the great problem looming for America goes beyond credit crunch, stock market nervousness, housing and consumer spending. The great problem is that a reckless president, having squandered recent gains, is now squandering our future wealth in a war we can't afford and haven't begun to pay for -- except now in the cost of oil. Recession is hardly the word for the thump now in store for us.

Ernest Werner, Trumansburg NY , USA

It is a neccesary correction. I wish it had come earlier when we were better able to deal with it, but such is life. There's something wrong when Warren Buffet has to go to Korea to find world class manufacturing assets.
The problem did not develop overnight and will not be solved overnight. Local market commentators can't decide if it's the top or the bottom of the cycle. Both are wrong - second law of thermodynamics. A pediatrician once told my mother it was better a child break their arm then grow up neurotic and the cruelties of the past 30 years are but hysterical neurosis.
Birth is always painful.
You win some, you lose some.

glenn schaefer, holbrook, Ny/ USA

The fall of the dollar is obviously having a marked impact on oil prices and inflation, here again Bush's incompetence is plain. He inherited a fiscal surplus from Clinton and managed to turn it into a huge deficit thanks to ill advised tax cuts for the rich and a one trillion dollar war in Iraq - after initially claiming that the war would pay for itself thanks to expected resurgent oil exports.

Ian, Frederick, USA MD

I live here (USA). I do not recognize the place he describes. What he writes is a mixture of wishful thinking and schadenfreude in advance; at best, because he lacks the ability to report on real American matters, it is hysterical displacement activity.

First cast out the beam out of thine own UK eye.

I wish you all, and yours, well.

Colin Miles, Charlotte, NC, USA

The housing market crash and credit disaster are going to mean that the Fed either has to inflate drastically or send the USA into a recession. The Fed is likely to have to drop the interest rate to a minimum of 3.5%. That is why sensible money has been going into commodities as they see rapidly rising inflation coming. The Fed will have to sacrifice the Dollar, but the real question is how large holders if Dollars such as Russia, Middle East, Japan and China will react. Certainly Europe does not want the € higher than it is. Japan is once again on the edge of recession so what does that leave-gold probably.

As regards the USA economic statistics, these are very dubious. The inflation rate of 0.8% used to calculate the GDP figure was the lowest rate used since the Eisenhower administration. Remember oil and food prices are rising rapidly. The job figures are to a large extent made up by the Bureau of Labour Statistics using the death/birth model.

DRumsfeld, London, UK