British economy bracing up for recession, gloom

REUTERS

LONDON, Nov 9: If some newspaper headlines are to be believed, Britain is teetering on the threshold of a particularly grisly chapter in its economic history. Egged on by the doom and gloom merchants, the country is bracing itself for all the pitfalls of previous recessions mass redundancies, plunging house prices and collapsing consumer confidence and living standards.

A growing number of economists say forget the 1970s and 80s, the slowdown that takes Britain into the new millennium will be both shallower and shorter than its predecessors.

"I'm one of the more optimistic people about the state of the economy," said Martin Weale, a prominent economist and director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

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