The announcement by the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, has finally killed off any attempts that the UK would somehow escape the coming storm.

Mr King gloomily warned that Britain faces two years of economic pain and could even sink into recession.

Everyone — from private individuals, to companies and to the government at Stormont and in No 10 Downing Street — will have to endure a period of adjustment. There will be a squeeze on living standards and a slump in economic growth. Property owners and investors will be taking spoonfuls of medicine for several months more now, and the room for pay rises will be limited.

Economists are warning that, nationally, 1,200 people a day could lose their jobs over the next 18 months.

Hopefully, the genie of inflation will not escape the bottle — however the spectre of price rise spirals mean the Bank of England has probably lost the useful weapon of interest rate cuts.

Everyone, in other words, will have to tighten their belts as the 'nice' decade ends. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.