As house prices tumbled, more than a million people were left servicing mortgages greater than their houses were worth.

ECONOMIST: The economy: Getting the point | The

As banks, house prices and stockmarkets all tumbled in mid-September, news that Britain's government had brokered a rescue of its biggest mortgage lender, troubled HBOS, by the relatively sturdy Lloyds TSB revived spirits no end.

ECONOMIST: British bank mergers