Strikes, possible blackouts and a plunging currency: Brits are being hit by a wave of

[superadmin]

Strikes, possible blackouts and a plunging currency: Brits are being hit by a wave of bad news

• The U.K. economy shrank by 0.3% in August, the Office for National Statistics estimated Wednesday, potentially beginning what economists expect will be a lengthy recession through the winter.
  
• Postal workers, rail workers and public barristers have all carried out strikes in recent months in protest over pay and conditions, as wages fail to keep up with inflation running at around 10%.
  
• A worst-case scenario laid out by national electricity system operator the National Grid warned that households and businesses may face three-hour power outages over winter.
  

LONDON — “The brains of humans and other animals contain a mechanism designed to give priority to bad news,” former Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman once said.

For Brits, this mechanism has been taking a beating in recent months.

The Bank of England this week added to its emergency rescue package for British pension funds, while the government brought forward its medium-term fiscal policy plan, having plunged the markets into chaos with its widely-criticized announcements last month.

A number of pension funds were hours from collapse when the central bank intervened on Sep. 28, and policymakers continue to battle against market volatility with further expansions of the bond-buying scheme on Monday and Tuesday.

The spike in interest rate expectations following new Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s so-called “mini-budget” also caused mayhem in the mortgage market, leading banks to withdraw products and rates to surge for prospective homeowners.

- More -