UK Bailout

The US isn't the only nation which bailed out its banks. The UK did the same thing.

The staggering total of Britain's national debt was laid bare yesterday - at least £2trillion.

That represents £33,000 for every man, woman and child in the country.

Bank bailouts will send debt 'off the Richter scale' at a staggering 147 per cent of national income, the worst figure since 1954 and one of the highest in the developed world.

Super.

Official debt figures had already shown public borrowing spiralling to a new record, reaching £67.2billion between last April and January. The deepening recession also led to a £7billion fall in the amount of tax paid by individuals and businesses last month, compared to January 2008, leaving a yawning black hole in Government finances.

The shattering calculations came as the Bank of England's deputy governor said there was a 'serious risk' of a decade-long downward spiral of the kind that crippled Japan in the 1990s.

So they plunged us into incredible debt for what exactly? It seems to me we're no better off with a couple of banks propped up than we would be if we'd let them fail and not put our national debt at post-WW2 levels.

I wonder what the figure will be for the US.