The good times have come to an end

The past decade has been a golden one for the British consumer, says Martin Spring, but that's all coming to an end - although most people are not yet fully aware of just how bad things are going to get.

The past decade has been a golden one for the British, and Brown repeatedly claimed credit for it. Everything seemed to go their way:

- The global economic environment has been unusually friendly, driven by the industrial revolution in Asia, an astonishing credit-fuelled boom in the US, and a Europe savouring the rewards of the ending of the cold war.

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