And part of it has to do with the fact that we had become the growth engine for the world based on accumulating debt and consumption.

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The bottom line is that in the early 2000s households reported spending very little of the money they borrowed against their homes on current consumption and instead used the money to repay debt and make residential and other household investments.

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It is much more to do with the belated recognition by banks and businesses of how the "deleveraging of the British economy" - the attempt by households, government and businesses to reduce the burden of debt bearing down on them - is squeezing consumption and economic growth.

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Further ahead, Germany has to cope with a shrinking and ageing population, a fast-growing public debt and the need to switch from dependence on exports towards more consumption.

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But whether or not China helped cause the crisis, there is not much debate that it needs to be part of the solution, because without higher Chinese consumption in China, the only way the global economy will become more balanced in future, with less debt on countries like Britain and America, is by those countries also having little or no economic growth.

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