The economy is in a delicate balance at the moment. The problem with the last real recession was manufacturing jobs were being lost in there 10's of thousands. That left less moey in the economy, less 2 income families and therefore house prices had to drop. We are now a service-based economy, which is actually MORE fagile. If people are worrying about their mortgage, they cut back on the luxuries - nights out, trips to the cinema etc and this will cause a downward spiral of job losses and less money in the economy.
Gordon Brown should be indited for fraud. He has inflated house prices by his actions of the last 10 years. The minimum wage is a ridiculous idea - it means money is worth less in real terms. Let me explain:
Jane worked at her local pub on £3.22/hour in 1998. In 2008 she gets £5.52 now, meaning she has an extra 2.30 per hour. This is an extra £92 per week or around £400 per calander month. In 1998, my large 3-bed semi was worth £59,950. An average mortgage of £50k would have been around £400/month. Now it's worth £159,950 the mortgage is £950 on 142k. Providing Jane's partner's wage has only increased in line with the cost of living (NOT inflation), she is no better off, probably worse off in real terms.
In the 10 years that have elapsed, petrol has increased 100%, bread by 85%, Council tax over 100% so whilst Jane's wage has gone up by 62%, everything else has risen (more) as a result. The only things that haven't really gone up at all are luxury goods, TV's for example. A 28" Sony Trinitron in 1998 would set you back £1k whilst you'll get a great 42" LCD for that. PC's are still the same price, just higher specs. Inflation has therefore been reported artificially low.
The great labour con-trick. Put more money in your hand, take meven more away and then insist how much better off you are because your house is worth 3 times what it was.
not a problem but still a bit of a shock. Anyway just sorted out a 2 year fixed rate from First Direct for 5.25% so Im happy 
