The UK goes for broke

Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, hoped to banish boom and bust, yet enjoyed the former and now faces the latter. As in the past the UK has a funding crisis. Investors are wary of a nation with a big trade deficit and a government with a vaulting budget one. Unlike in the past, high inflation is not part of the crisis. Instead the Bank of England now forecasts inflation of only 1%, half its 2% target, and sees a risk of deflation that could make the downturn all the worse. The pain is just be...