"Tin Hats everyone"....Take cover!

Mike, Berlin,

Oh dont worry about it, Brown, King and Darling are watching out for us.

They knew this was going to happen and have a cunning plan to save us any pain.

No, really , they have our best interests at heart.

Paul P, london,

I'm sure there will be plenty of layoffs but how many top management heads are rolling?

And when is Applegarth to be moved out of Northern Rock? Should he not have the honour to resign?

David, Poole,

Put all the financial gurus in a room and NON of them will know what;s going to happen tomorrow. Putting your trust in so called "financial experts" is like crossing the road with your eyes closed.

Doug George, Antibes, France

There has been too much speculation in property, driven by historically low interest rates, and a weak US dollar offsetting the actual effect of rising oil prices. The British public have been conned in to thinking the good times are here to stay, and bricks and mortar are as safe as houses.....reinforced by TV property development soft porn shows, buy it - flip it - make a profit....House values are relative, and any rise in value is not a liquid asset - you have to sell to benefit, but still need a roof over your head. Now comes the truth of were the UK economy really stands, but don't ask me I used to work in manufacturing!

Rental John, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

I'm a mortgage underwriter in the U.S. and you are totally correct this was foreseeable. We in risk management have been asking questions from the start, but sales wanted their bonuses. Upper management really wanted their bonuses so even when we(as risk analysist) knew the loan was going to default we were told to fund the loan. I feel the U.S. has deceived the entire world with our lending practices and should be allow to collapse on our own. I have been in my career for 11 years and was (while writing this) just informed I have been laid off. If you think it is bad now wait for a little while it is only going to get worse. With layoffs happening daily and unemployment (despite the gov. numbers) going up, even the "good" mortgages (such as mine) are going to have problems. Just wait until all the Option ARMS start maturing. I have also read that the same problems effecting residentail mortgage is now said to be in the commerical real estate market as well. comsumer loans as well.

Rob, tempe, AZ, USA

Serves them b***** right, the warnings both to government (Gordon McSporran) and to the so called professional financial/ banking system have been on the cards for years. Their incompetence and lack of foresight and sheer greed is on record for all to see. For me, the best bit of news is that Broon did not call an election as he will be forced to face the (discordant) music over the next two years+. - Poor old Darling is the fall guy surely he sees that, never mind, there is always the gold plated pension for them both.

Victor M., Malaga, Spain

seems to me this was foreseeable, if you inflate a balloon (or balance sheet) sooner of later it is going to pop. To say this “had not been anticipated by firms or authorities” is a bit poor, they all new it could happen but no one wanted to be a spoil sport and stop the merrygoround. btw the IMF report I saw today actually has a picture of the merrygoround :)

Now they are going to create a super SIV to hide even more mistakes. .... for now :P

anyone work in a highly leveraged business? :(

derek, Leeds,

Recipe for a market crash?

Pat, FL, USA/ExPat,

Most of this article is obvious.If you add up the national debt and consumer debt there appears to be a slight problem.

Steve, Eure, France