The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

Recession alert sends pound to five-year low | Business | The Guardian.

Britain's recession will be longer and deeper, because Britons are more indebted. They won't be purchasing goods or services above or beyond the essentials, because they now have to pay back the debts incurred during what I think of as "the Vorderman binge". Businesses will go bankrupt for lack of customers. Everyone who remortgaged their house to pay for consumer goods or holidays (directly, or by refinancing debts incurred to pay for such stuff) is responsible for the situation, as is the government which has been doing the same thing, but on a galactic scale. Those of us who didn't, however, seem set to pay for it. Such is democracy.

Of course, everyone is keen to blame the bankers. That's like blaming the holiday company or the car dealer for selling you the car or holiday you couldn't afford for the money you couldn't afford to borrow. Did they put a gun to your head? Did the Chinese government put a gun to Gordon Brown's head to force him to borrow? Were they supposed to say no to save you and him from foolishness? They are convenient scapegoats.

Of course, as long as it's officially their fault, the government can justify ripping off  the prudent few to subsidise even further the imprudent many. When will people face up to the basic fact that their actions have consequences? For those forced to sell their pension funds for an annuity right now, those consequences are very severe. How they must wish they had lived unproductive lives as state drones, so that they could have an unfunded final salary pension to be paid for by taxpayers as yet unborn.