This article is nonsense! The worst think to do now is to invest in anything as all assets are loosing value. Even at 3 or even 0%, my money is better in a safe bank, at least it is not loosing there. Politicians try to push us there for there own benefits (next elexction). This will outlast them.

Henry, Paris, France

http://www.portfolio.com/news-markets/national-news/portfolio/2008/11/11/The-End-of-Wall-Streets-Boom/

An incredibly good read.....

maudgonne, lancaster, penna, usa

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing Mr. Kaletsky is a fan of hyperbole!

Matt, Chicago, IL, USA

Another left wing head in the sand response to a mess created by Brown and Co, who is now on an ego trip trying to convince the world he is the second coming.

D Case, Newqauy,

The "fear" of deflation, espoused by AK and others, is completely misplaced. History shows that the US has had extended periods of deflation during which it prospered. Even today, people are accustomed to many consumer goods prices falling, yet we still spend. Deflation is far better than inflation.

James Brooks, London, UK

To follow on the medical analogy, sometimes the best doctor loses a patient. I think that we're in this case now in the economy; wild rate cuts like this are like using a defibrilator on a brain dead patient - still no pulse and just flattening the battery.

So IMO the UK gets 90's Japan stagflation

Pete, Enfield, Mddx

What "economists" like Anatole still can't grasp is that sooner or later people don't want to borrow any more.
Not at 5% or 3%. Not even at 0%, as they don't feel thay can ever repay the principle, especially when their job security is looking dubious.
More debt really is not a cure.

mike, melbourne, australia

You forget Nouriel Roubini who largely predicted the whole damn shoe-box. You also omit to mention that if sterling collapses because Brown's borrowing is to excessive, gilts will need to have much higher yields next year and interest rates will need to go up.

tom legassick, dunedin,

Still looking on the bright side then! Perhaps you should check what ABX AAA's did today after Paulson pulled the TARP bid. Massive delevering of consumer and corps still to come. More capital will be needed. Rates to zero helps banks recap quicker with steep curves but little else. Mid 2009 er no..

GH, NY, USA

I agree with the previous posters. The root of the problem is too much debt and too few savings, and the current measures being taken will only make matters worse, and leave even more toxic debt to be liquidated. As for the long term - when did a Labour politician ever consider the long term?

Robert Firth, Singapore,

The parallels with Japan in the late 1990s are frightening. Low long-term rates and expansive fiscal policy did nothing for growth until the banks and corporates flushed out their debts. Other than a growth blip in 1996, Japan's economy stagnated for 12 years. Can it really be happening again?

mark mcfarland, Hong Kong,

The Bank should collapse rates to 0%. Those with mortgages and loans now take priority over savers. The economy is in a mess. It needs a massive boost to consumer confidence. Darling had better be willing to cut VAT to 5% and increase winter fuel payments to £1000 for poor pensioner households.

Chrys, Slough, uk

Dont drop interest rates. The average person was easily able to pay their mortgage. It was when first time buyers had to find 25 % deposits it went belly up.

Keep property prices to 2% and start lending again. Is it that hard??

rich, hereford,

This article suggests that the people who created this mess are innocent victims of something they could not have predicted. And the claim is that they know how to fix the system. I have no doubt they know the jargon of banking. Yet if they are victims how do they know how to fix this?

Richard Stone, San Mateo, CA, USA

Two separate illnesses needing contradictory solutions. Reminds me of the 13 year old girl's medical condition. Her cancer caused the heart problem that needed a transplant to fix.
Either way she's dead. She chose to die with dignity.

The world economy. Either way it's dead. Without dignity

Dave Clemo, Kettering,

"Should we disqualify all those who failed to foresee the gravity of this crisis ?"

Absolutely! If a layman like me could see something like this coming year’s ago there's no reason why they shouldn't! Either they are deceitful or incompetent; both of which require disqualification.

Jonathan Speck, London, UK

This feels like a lazy, reductive article offering zero fresh insight and yet another rehash of objectively understood facts. These 'experts' are unable to offer insight because they're just stirring old facts rather than asking searching questions about when to invest. Look to Soros and Buffet.

Claire, herts,

The root cause was failure of Governemnts, including the Uk to control money supply. Asset values had to crash and mny experts predicted it. Governements did not listen Gordon Brown saw it as never ending-no more boom and bust he said many times.
He did not read it. I did in my own life.

Charles Daniels, NEWCastle, UK

Mr Paulson didn't fail Lehman, Lehman's ceo, Mr Fuld did. He could have sold Lehman at more than one points, but too proud to do so and too shortsighted to believe it can survive on its own. These executives should be sent to prison and their past bonuse should be confistigated.

Mark, Birmingham, UK

The Moral Hazard engendered in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac surely played a role in this current debacle. Similarly, unbridled government spending will thwart any attempt at remedial action as government borrowing for immediate consumption "crowds out" the private sector's need for investment capital

peter, miami, usa

The IMF said that UK housing was massively overpriced a couple of years ago. But Anatole and the rest were on the "property never goes down" wagon.

Now his answer is zero interest, no savings and massive public and private debts.

Oh God, where will it all end?

Bob Travels, Stevenage,

This is all very well, but when you interfere with the natural process of cyclical events, it always comes back to haunt you. The only solution is for the wider economy to be allowed to fail. Managing failure will only make things worse.

James, London,

The reason why most failed to predict present problems is that they did not understand the economy and why ever increasing debt was unsustainable.
This incomprehension is also the reason why the measures being taken will not work.
People like Roubini who did predict this are the ones to listen to.

David Martin, Bristol, UK

Wrong again Anatole. It is absurd to argue Paulson brought down this house of cards. This crisis cannot be solved by those who created it. Why? Because there is no reason to create wealth while governments give it away at 1%. This rate guarantees those who borrow at it will fail when it is raised.

Stephen Hargreaves, Hobart, Australia

Anatoles's solution to everything is "lower interest rates today". He's be saying this before, during and no doubt after this crisis has passed. When it comes time to raise rates "in the long run", as he promises, he'll find another excuse.

Too low rates caused this crisis and will only extend it.

James Brooks, London, UK