[Osem]

Many people have a share of the blame here I'm afraid. When things are apparently going well few people want to ask difficult questions and see it all come to an end do they. Homeowners taking on ever larger mortgages on the back of notional property values to fund lifestyles they can't really afford and bank executives blinded in one eye by the lure of huge profits and bonuses. The Govt. and regulators are culpable too - chocolate teapots overseeing murky deals and chancellors in denial about the problems because just about the only thing keeping UK PLC afloat is personal debt.

Remember all the Lloyds Names who despite knowing full well that theirs was unlimited liability continued to accept what had been guaranteed profits for zero effort and then started whining like stuck pigs when the massive claims started coming in and the reality of their liability dawned on them.

Now is the time to pass the buck of course but in reality the blame is very widely spread. Self delusion on a grand scale is the key to this problem and even those of us who've been more sensible with our finances are going to pay for it.