So you think the UK is in trouble?

Our recession here in the UK looks a rather mild affair compared to the slowdown in Japan. From its peak in 2008q1, the Japanese economy has declined by 9.1 percent. Moreover, the economy is only 10 percent larger relative to 1994. This current slowdown has wiped out six years of growth.

The reason of Japan's catastrophic collapse sits on the other side of the Pacific. US consumers stopped borrowing and buying. In the first quarter of this year, alone Japanese exports declined by 26 percent.