Where do we go from here?

Resolution's Stuart Thomson gives his opinion on how the world's main economies will move on from the global crunch

The global credit crunch became significantly worse in October in the wake of the US Treasury's misguided decision to allow Lehman Brothers to collapse. This, together with the tortured passage of the US Tarp bill to inject money into the US financial system, triggered significant cash hoarding by banks and a breakdown in the wholesale funding market. This in turn triggered several other failures through Europe. In the UK, HBOS was forced into a shotgun marriage with Lloyds TSB, while in Europe, governments were forced to rescue Dexia, Fortis, Hypo Real Estate and the three leading Ic...