i think we probably need a recession at this point. our ecconomy has run on debt, and is fundamentally weak in fields like export- which is probably the most important. the credit bubble has hidden our decline in productivity and a recession will allow us to get real about our ecconomy

will, grimsby, uk

"The threat was now that the slowdown would drive inflation sharply below target, so the Bank would ..."

There is more chance of aliens landing in Regent's Park.

John, London, UK

It is truly remarkable that King utters words of defeat and the country see its £ fall and its shares drop! We are being led by a view of the end of the world when we should be embracing the changes and the challenges. This is a human made up world where optimism must rule and leaders must lead

Jason Horn, Berkhamsted, UK

Great, the captain of the Titanic is now telling us how he hit the iceberg. They are all overpaid and useless.

Dave Bridge, Southport, UK

Labour is at fault as is the EU, as of this week my dad HGV driver will be able to work 1/4 less hours a week and by feb it will be down 50%!

Thanks the labour and the EU working time, Thanks to them his income will drop by 50%! What is the goverment up to? Cheaper EU labour with tanks of EU Fuel

MR w jones, Liverpool, England

I no longer have any faith to the people who run the economy in the UK and US. They want to deflate the debt bubble by reducing interest rate !!!! this wil lead to more borrowing and worsen the debt bubble.It is like injecting a cancer patient with more cancerous cells! Rates should be left alone

NICHOLAS Bsc Economics, LARNACA, CYPRUS

Why on earth would Mr King want to return to 'normal levels of lending'. isn't that exactly what created this mess? - and what is normal nowdays? interestingly I was offered a balance transfer facility (thankfully not needed) the rate, not 0% anymore but an immediate 17.9%, but no handling fee lol!

pd, bristol,

Mr King is a political puppet, as is the FSA. I think more people will lose the will to live thanks to inept regulation and a blind government.

Evan Owen, Harlech, Wales

"Unimaginable". We truly are lions led by donkeys. I didn't find it very hard to imagine in 2005 that house prices in 2010 would be no higher than in 2005. Mervyn had a chance in 2004/5 to stop pumping up the asset bubble but kept his foot off the brake because Blair had to win another election.

Alan Gooch, Honiton, UK

And why have we got such low income's? Thanks to the goverments policy of supplying cheap labour from abroad,and anyone who thinks the conservatives will do any better needs to ask themselves...will the tories get us out of the EU...I think you know the answer

David , Torquay, England

A point strikes me as pertinent!
The survey of business confidence carried out 28 years ago expressed views from those who had likely witnessed the 70's whereas todays views are set against the experiences of the relative prosperity of the last few years where a cold is judged pneumonia.

Chris, Blackburn, UK

Thank goodness we have the 'expert 'in Downing Street to help us - after all, he dug the hole that got us into this mess. Oh, silly me: he's continuing to borrow billions more so still digging but with a bigger spade.

Still, look on it as a huge grave: for Gordon and the rest of the Labour Govt.

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

Why don't people understand, interest rates are there to give an indication of the cost of money. The problem we have is the availability of money, cost and availability are different.

When you go into a shop, it don't matter what the price is, if the shelf is empty, you can't have any.

Ken, Derby, England

No doubt Mr King will claim that he and his colleagues at the BoE couldn't see this coming whilst they encouraged the debt bubble to inflate. Their solution? Lower interest rates again to reflate that bubble by encouraging even more borrowing.

Paul, Coventry,

When do we get a police investigation into the financial sector of the economy?

Dave, Chorley,

is anyone investigating the blatant mis-selling of tracker mortgages???? why isn't the Mortgage ombudsman investigating this??? the big selling point of tracker mortgages is that they "track" the base rate...nobody explained this is only when it rises though...

stephen, china, china

Is the Bank of England abandoning sound money and giveing into the easy charms of low interest rates? Are they too opting for high inflation to solve the sub-prime crisis. What about pensioners and the like who depend on the sound value of money to preserve their nest egg? God help us all!

S Yogarajah, Harrow, UK

Who does the struggling - the ordinary people not the financiers who caused this mess.

Mike, Newport, Wales

...and the Pope is a Catholic claims King!

John Merrell, London,

Why can we not have a sharp cut in interest rates now. Down to 3%.What would go wrong in the short term? It may jump start the banks. Once the banks start lending, then maybe put them up to keep inflation in check.

Jyotindra, Northaw, UK

Mr King what you need is ten restaurant owners to advise you when we are heading for the recession. When the economy is slowing down, restaurants are on front line. Reduce interest rates down to 3% now.

Jyotindra, Northaw, UK

We'd have turned the corner much earlier if not for Mr King's and the Government's incompetence.

David, London,

The Bank Of England is the bank of the World. London is the economic centre... as our Queen says... 'I Promise To Pay The Bearer'. The BOE should not forget this... for the sake of our 'Commonwealth'. It is the BOE that is the handout for the Monopoly money... end of.

Mark, London, UK

Thank goodness we had an expert to point out the struggle ahead.

I might have missed that.

Gordon, Glasgow, UK