“The British economy may have been reasonably successful but it is also highly fallible. The house that Gordon Built may not be built on sand but it has certainly been built on a floodplain. It has yet to be fully tested against rising economic sea levels, though the events of the last week suggest that it may be very soon… This current boom does not depend on long term investment or on exports or on the cultivation of a more educated, skilled, labour force. It is powered by debt financed consumer spending, some reckless lending and the optimism generated by a house price boom. The water is now pouring through the defences after the near collapse of Northern Rock; a product of greed and reckless gambling by overpaid executives; lax, indulgent bank regulation; and a complacent government. I warned Gordon Brown of a looming debt crisis four years ago.”