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...marvels former Home Secretary David Blunkett. One reason is that Brown has shifted blame to greedy bankers (he inveighs against "the age of irresponsibility") and to America's subprime mortgage debacle. "It is pretty clear to me that this problem started in America," Brown declared as he unveiled the bank bailout. The idea of a global contagion originating in a distant country ties in with his long-term campaign to reform international institutions to meet the challenges of a globalized economy...
What a difference a week makes. With their coordinated response to the international banking crisis, European governments - followed by the U.S. - appear to have calmed a worldwide market panic and eased fears of a devastating series of bank collapses. Investors from Tokyo to Tunis immediately sent stock prices shooting up again after a week of historic losses. But it's still far too early to celebrate. The measures need to prove their effectiveness by unfreezing lending. And there's still the huge challenge - no less urgent than fixing the banking system - of preventing an economic slump...
...financial crisis exploded. Most economic statistics in the U.K. and around the Continent already look awful, but the turmoil of the last few weeks will likely make the downturn longer and more painful. "You name it, it's falling," says George Buckley, a London-based economist for Deutsche Bank...
This grim outlook presents some particularly tricky challenges to those in charge. In previous downturns, such as the early 1990s slump, governments typically ramped up state spending in order to offset the drop in business activity. But this time, the gigantic cost of bank bailouts will leave national treasuries with little room for maneuver. Indeed, the bailout plans - under which stricken banks will receive direct injections of taxpayer money to strengthen their capital base, while governments provide guarantees aimed at getting banks to lend to one another again - may well throw government finances seriously out of kilter...
...will be a lot harder to obtain. That's already happening in the U.K., for example, where the volume of home mortgages approved by lenders fell dramatically in August. Including other forms of consumer credit, total net lending plunged by 86% from its level a year ago, according to Bank of England statistics. Just as Europe's banks were overextended, so consumers in many countries ramped up their household borrowing in the past few years - usually because rising house prices made them feel richer. For policymakers, the critical issue is the speed with which the inevitable weaning off of credit...