OOps I forgot to post my response to your question. From what I can see, the economic downturn will force those in the UK (and the US, among others), to realize that all of that money that was in the banks was just an illusion of sorts. After all, most of it was made up digits. Where did they go? Poof! What we are left with is our families, our farms, and our cities. We still have air and water and love. Perhaps we will finally get real.
Yes, we have lost retirement plans and savings accounts. Maybe there is a better way, and not based on the lending of money in the first place. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" always summed it up for me, thank you.