The shakeout gathers momentum

From today's Times:

"Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the struggling bank, is preparing to axe up to 3,000 staff across its worldwide workforce as it braces itself against the onslaught of the global recession.

Up to 1,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the UK, and today's latest spate of cuts brings the total number of bring the total number of British jobs lost this week to above 16,000.

Yesterday, BT underscored the arrival of the financial crisis in the real economy as it unveiled plans to cut 10,000 jobs by the end of March, following workforce reductions elsewhere at Virgin Media, Yell and GlaxoSmithKline."

The recession appears to be gathering speed. In the coming months, stories like this one could be a daily occurrence.

I know it is bit late, but wouldn't it have been better if in the past the UK economy had exhibited a little less exuberence. We should have traded off a slightly lower growth rate, for a more sustainable and better managed financial sector.