While the song and dance of mortgage blues and tainted paper certainly is not good for the United States, it is not good for other countries either. The true scale of the jobs disaster facing Britain is revealed today as experts issue dire warnings that up to half a million workers will lose their jobs over the next two years, as companies cut costs and scale back investment plans to survive the economic downturn. Karen Ward, chief UK economist at HSBC, calculates that almost a quarter of the workforce – seven million – are employed in the vulnerable retail and leisure industries. Many of those jobs will go away.

Does the United States owe other countries and apology, or is it enough that major banks and investment houses are going broke? Perhaps not enough by far, say many, as unemployment and cutbacks spread around the world. Just look at the number of institutions that held stock in Lehman Brothers, as just one example. Those organizations, and stockholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are suffering. Pension funds have been touched. As AIG nears the end even more families, businesses, and investors are effected.

When will it end? Perhaps a cleansing will take place when the root of all evil is discovered, and cut off like the man heads of Hydra. After all, knowledge is power. However it is quite obvious that many parties will end up with egg on their face.