The market will fix all. !!!!!
Yeah right.
The market caused it all.

Frankie, Sydney, Australia

Bobby London,

The US economy is rather less dependent upon the Financial sector, as a driver of the whole economy, than the UK. SImilar for Real Estate.
That's why we are not seeing negative GDP in the US. The US economy outside these two sectors is doing relatively well.

Ian, Madison, USA

will, grimsby, uk - Have you ever been to Cuba and spoken to the people there. They are generally pretty happy, and the fact they have not been screwed by the capitalist consumerism lie like the rest of the western world is to their benefit. Consuming is not progress nor is it happiness, its a lie!

Lloyd, uk,

4$ petrol is heaven compared with our 10$ plus. Also the FED will always reduce interest rates to save the day which is more than can be said for the BOE. I fear for us in the UK rather than our American friends.

john, milton keynes,

Roger, Weymouth, England

Never catch a falling knife...

Philip Robinson, London, England

Clive , what the hell does a "low carb society built on a socialist model " mean ?
Consumption crosses the political divide.
A low carbon society is a personal one and should not come with a political badge attached .
" Ask not what your country can do for you " etc.

Nick Dixon, Sutton Coldfield, England

The US and the UK are now economies driven by the financial sector. Through finance buying and selling residential homes had become an acceptable way to make a living. No real work involved.

The US and UK economies deserve the recession they are about to get.

Bobby, London, UK

Er, "Bring oil prices down.....". Well that involves either reducing demand or increasing supply. The latter ain't going to happen in the quantities needed and it seems a folly to base the entire world economy on something that's only got 20-30 years (shrinking) supply left

Richard, Bexhill, UK

Now the time has come the US to abolish the system which PRIVATE banks (All Federal Reserve Banks, and especially Bank of New York) managing the all banking system and money printing. Learn something from the old countries in Europe.

yanko, st galen, CH

Clive stringer- have you no concept of history- we tried socialism-it was an abject failure. let the greedy flee? So people who employee people, you would encourage them to leave the country and take their jobs with them?

why dont you flee to cuba and see how much of a utopia it actually is?

will, grimsby, uk

all this talk of doom and gloom, let us do what we always have done in times of hardship, batten down the hatches, tighten our belts and ride out the storm. its happened before and will again.

johnse, bedford, england

The US and UK economies remind me very strongly of the Monty Python sketch, "Mr Creosote". Just one more teeny After-Eight mint, Mr. Bush, Mr. Brown?

Clive, Monterrey, Mexico

It is not the price of oil the needs to come down, but the consumption of this product. Polution from oil is destroying the planet. The price of oil does not create carbon polution.

Jim Wills, Brisbane, Australia

<i> Now is the time to start building a low carb society on a socialist model, if the greedy want to flee then good riddance.
Clive Stringer, Eggesford, England</i>

if the greedy flee you wont have anything to Socialize now will you.

alex seymour, haywards heath, United Kingdom

All rather head in the sand, we are deluding ourselves if we think that oil prices will come back. Supply, despite what is said by the industry is behind demand, and incase you missed it "they are not making anymore". Alternative energy? Read some Newtonian physics, its over for our current economy.

Nick, Wellington, New Zealand

This whole mess has been caused by the too cheap credit provided by the Federal Reserve. Untill the FD is abolished these issues will keep coming back over and over.

The problem has always been the oversupply of money. Hopefully we'll get an acknowledgement of that at some point.

Jeremiah1974, London,

To get condidence back into the financial sector requires the managers and directors of that sector to demonstrate competence. The Credit Crunch arose from their manifest incompetence. Greed we accept as the nature of the beast but it has to be accompanied by knowlwedge and skill.
Come on lads!

Stephen Green, Correns, France

Basically the US & UK are overspent and need to start paying back - not looking for credit lines to continue unsustainable consumption.

What an economic mess the political & financial establishment have got everyone into. However, more serious is the social and political fallout that will result

Steve Marchant, Newton Abbot, UK

Gordon Brown effectively controls the price of oil in the UK through taxation just as much as the Saudis. In fact, more so.

D Longmire, London, UK

I agree with Peter of Miami. Only thing is the greed tap has been on full for a long time, and we need more than just a short burst of the despair tap to restore the balance. The policy of trying to cure a man fat with debt by offering him another chocolate (more debt) never works in the long run

Hamish, Melbourne,

I wish l had some spare cash, Bank shares are at very low
valuations and could be worth a punt.

Roger, Weymouth, England

We are going to suffer this torture til at least Jan 2009-new president- since noone even merely criticises the jews for saying they are going to attack Iran! and bush, of the oil connections, lets it be known he has given them carte blanche

john , whitehaven, uk

$147 per barrel and it still sells. The problem is not with the producers but with the consumers. The first step towards a cure is to admit you have an addiction. Now is the time to start building a low carb society on a socialist model, if the greedy want to flee then good riddance.

Clive Stringer, Eggesford, England

all wishful thinking, with a nice little war in the Middle East the Sky is the limit for oil, and the image of the 'West' will be in tatters for good

Heinz Geyer, London,

Not so long ago the talk was of "Irrational Exhuberance" and trees that would grow to the sky. Markets fluctuate. The mob swings between greed an dispair, but through it all the trend of mankind is ever upwards. The sun will shine again.

peter, miami, usa

Petrol 4$ a gallon and a hand out from the treasury to every tax payer? That would be wonderful in Britain. You don't know how lucky you Americans are. Here GORDO's spent it all and can only think of increasing taxes - 10% tax band gone, vehicle tax up - retrospectively - etc etc. IT'S DOOM

David Nammory, Liverpool,

We are paying over three times this amount in Europe........I wish we were still only paying $4/Gallon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JB, London, UK

Oh yes, but simpler said than done!

hall, Sheffield,

He who controls the oil price controls inflation & interest rates. Rank manipulation of oil supply, storage, distribution, inventories, projections by investment banks and hedge funds is bankrupting non producing countries. Meanwhile the Saudis build and power indoor ski resorts in the desert

Will, Lincoln, UK

Address the oil price by reducing money supply, you hurt finance and the economy. Address the financial industry by increasing the money supply, the oil price continues to rise. There is no easy solution to this crisis. Economies need to take some pain for this mother of all credit/debt binges.

Hamish, Melbourne,

$4/gallon is cheap. You don't know how lucky you are.

J Raven, christchurch, new zealand

In the 18th century it would have been quite simple. Important politicians would have been impeached, and many citizens who had stolen millions would have been executed or exiled. Society seems to think now that what happens is an act of God. Who is responsible for bad governance of the last decade

Brian Lewis, Manila, Philippines

Oil is going up again - there's some minor conflagration in the Middle East brewing. These are not the facts you want. Go back to sleep.

kevin, Lincoln, UK