Iceland's economy has long been seen as one of the best investment prospects in Europe. Yet it collapsed in a matter of days in October under the weight of billions of dollars of foreign debt incurred by its banks that were laid bare by the global financial crisis.

Clearly nothing is safe.

Russia is looking in trouble with earnings from oil and gas and other commodities plunging. Rouble looks bad as well. It's on the news tonight about it.

Huw, as I have said before on here, the UK has a very good chance of going bankrupt. Our economy was built on financial services, run by clowns in the City who treated it like a casino. We have no economy now.

I agree with Hilary - nothing is safe.

I would like to think that other countries would learn from what happened in Iceland, and perhaps they will, but right now it is simply too late. It is no longer matter of if other countries will fall, it is a matter of when.

The UK are perhaps in slightly more of a mess than some comparable economies, thanks to our economy’s over-reliance on banking and financial services, and I believe it is only a matter of time before the economy crumbles here – interest rates are now down to one percent for example. I don't think we'll go bankrupt but I'm sure we won't be far from it.

God, that all sounds so depressing. The worst thing is that when people stop spending, things get worse, and so on in an endless cycle. We need to keep shopping.

People won't spend if they fear for their jobs. It's a vicious cycle.