Morning:
14°c
THIS was the week when the extent of the economic horror really began to hit home. It was when the bad news moved from the pages of the newspapers and the TV and radio bulletins - and started to directly affect people's lives.
Until now, the fall-out has largely been confined to the City, to bank rescues and in the case of Lehman, a spectacular collapse. There's been chat galore about the credit crunch but this goes much deeper. Day after day there have been announcements of job losses - not just a few hundred here and there but running into tens of thousands.
Germany has admitted to being in recession. Today, the eurozone did the same. In theory, we have to wait until the current quarter's performance is collated and disclosed - but no one doubts, we're in the same position.
Even the Bank of England governor seems unable to cope, admitting he was caught unawares. Interest rates have come down and will fall further. Tax cuts are also on the cards. That may do something to stem the tide domestically.
But this is a global crisis. The Prime Minister is in Washington, rightly calling for an international approach. But without the input of effectively the new elected leader of the western world, on whose shoulders so much optimism now resides, the G20 gathering is a hollow affair. Gordon Brown is not the boss; Barack Obama will be.
By the time Mr Obama takes office in late January, we could be up to twomillion unemployed in the UK. Only when the new President introduces promised fiscal relief is the US economy, on which so much depends, likely to show any sign of recovery. Unfortunately, we're going to have many more weeks like this.
