"THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER?"

I couldn't resist this cartoon, courtesy of The Daily Telegraph on Saturday. Could Iapologise for not moderating comments in the past 24 hrs. My internet provider let me down yet again whilst I was in the middle of this post. You can read it now. (Could anyone tell me what a PPP server fault is?)
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Bertie has been reading everything he can about the 'world of finance' to try and understand what the problem is all about and it seems simply to be a horrible cycle of greed induced, debt. Gordon Brown failed dismally on The Andrew Marr Show this morning to admit any responsibility for the state this country is in despite holding the office of Chancellor for 10 years. All he could do was blame the US and the world financial storm and try and convince viewers that we in the UK are better placed than most to ride out the 'storm' under his careful hand on the tiller.
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It would appear that it's not just the UK private citizen who has been living on credit and amassing debt with savings ratios down from 10% in 1997 to 0.4% in 2008, but many of our big 'blue-chip' businesses have a debt problem too.
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It would seem that £85 billion of debts are due to be re-paid in 2009 together with £25 billion in re-paying corporate bonds. The effect on some companies will be as cataclysmic as a family finding that the main income earner has lost his/her job whilst having a large mortgage and mountain of plastic debt to 'service'. How many households will end up in 'personal bankruptcy' and homelessness and how many firms will find they are going to go to the wall.?
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This whole business seems like a snowball gathering momentum down a slope and each rotation adds to the problem as it gets bigger and bigger until it becomes an avalanche.
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I personally think the Government should not even attempt to prop up ailing businesses or squander money creating/inventing 100,000 public sector jobs. It is the nature of capitalism that there is risk and the price of failure has to be paid.
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What Government could do very effectively is add some extra strands to the benefit system to protect and support the 'innocents' caught up in the economic mess. For example, families with children should not be thrown onto the street through repossession to then need re-housing by the Local Authority. It would make more sense for the house to be taken over as 'social housing'; the family kept in it and then pay rent through our generous Benefits System or some other way that will provide a sensible and cost effective safety net. Those without children and those who have bought to rent will just have to take the pain as those with savings will have to.
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I am afraid I have no confidence in Mr Brown any more. Propping up banks to prevent a collapse of the banking system is fine but all the other proposals at the moment seem ineffective and costly.
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I have been told that Debenhams at Westwood Cross was looking like an empty warehouse at the weekend; Debenhams directors are reported as having to go seeking finance in the next few weeks by possibly selling shares to reduce debt problems incurred in 2006. Our own CGP has to repay £28.5 million to the Israel Discount Bank in November and with a share price less than 20p, it is not looking good unless it can re-arrange its debt or 'The Chinese' come to the rescue in time.

May your God go with you in the troubled times that await us all.