Market meltdown

What strange times we're living in. I couldn't quite believe my ears when I heard last night that US congress hadn't passed Bush's financial rescue package. That vote has huge implications not only in the US but also world-wide - we're certainly feeling them here in the UK. Yesterday one of our banks, Bradford and Bingley, was part-nationalised, and the FTSE closed down at almost the same level as it did on 9/11.

Despite the bullish attitude of the US congressmen that a free market problem will eventually find a free market solution, I can see the signs of the financial crisis on people around me. Colleagues in particular have been very concerned for me since my husband's redundancy, and I don't think all of that is just affection for me; I think many of them are thinking "that could be us next month".

They suddenly realise that their comfortable middle class lifestyle relies on both partners' salaries, that their mortgage is huge and their outgoings similarly sizeable. It's all a delicate balance between profit and loss, and no mistake.