I am not an economist, but as a law abiding, tax paying, money saving citizen of the world, I am bewildered by the rapid demise of financial institutions and am tempted to ask, like the Queen of England did-"Why didn't the experts see it coming?"

The explanation, I suspect, lies in the modern corporate culture, which promotes people who survive by making projections, armed with graphs and figures which are based on half truths. Whistle blowers are a no no and everybody believed till a few days ago, that a debt fairy will come and pay it all off with a wave of a wand.

In recent times the people who have reported bad news e.g. "The pound is going to go down further" or "There is huge credit crunch lurking around the corner" have been accused of having caused such things to happen by predicting them, which is ridiculous.

One also hears the most implausible explanations from bigwigs like George Bush who said a few months ago, that the people of India and China have started eating and driving, and thus are to blame for the rise in oil and commodity prices.

Ofcourse since then, the price of crude oil took a free jump from the cliff and the jetsetting automakers were forced to drive the cars they can't sell and beg for a bailout, a familiar word nowadays. Airlines went bust, house prices plummetted and jobs are being lost everyday. As the discounts and closing downs are failing to make people spend foolishly, the world is deflating like a Hot air balloon going down. Wonder what happened to the Indians and Chinese, they perhaps went back to bicycles and eating one meal a day within a space of four months.

The weather and the economy are not the only bad news here in England nowadays, the horrendous stories of child abuse, a toddler being battered over months, before dying from his wounds and a mother drugging and kidnapping her own daughter for prize money, have made the world sick.

I heard a talk show on child labour on one of the Indian TV channels and one of the suggestions to prevent child labour was introduction of child benefits. If ever the Indian Government thinks in that direction they should study how this "something for nothing culture" has ruined the British society.

People have children not because they cherish them, but to earn child benefits. People are known to be given bigger houses if they have bigger families and even 1000 pound grants to sort out outdoor play equipment. Now when the Government is trying to crack down on people who don't want to go back to work, women dont shy away from saying on National Televesion that they would be worse off, if they went back to work. I know of staff at the hospital who enjoyed working but due to a change in circumstances like death of a spouse, were advised to leave their job to save their house and make ends meet. This leaves the workforce disillusioned and disgruntled as they are penalized for working while people on benefits go on holidays.

When there were jobs, immigrants from Eastern Europe came and took them and now when the Government, whose coffers are empty as the pound plummets below the Euro, wants people on benefits to go back to work, the Govt has the added responsibilty of trying to create jobs.

We live with our bags packed, but as a British doctor wrote in a letter to the editor of Hospital Doctor many months ago-"I am supposed to be sympathetic towards International Medical Graduates who have to return "home" because they cant find a job, but what about me? Unfortunately, I dont have another home to go to..."