It looks like we’re going to be graced by a “joint response” to the financial crisis by the G7 leaders.

Paul Tustain says it was government action — slashing interest rates — that caused the crisis. Now they tell us slashing rates further and nationalizing banks is the way to ‘fix’ the economy.

This ‘fix’ will and lead to a protracted period of underperforming stocks and bonds… and create the perfect conditions for a bull market in gold.

Do you remember Lloyds of London? It used to be the world’s biggest insurance underwriter. The way it worked was that rich individuals were allowed to keep all their money invested in their favorite stocks and shares, but they could also earn a second income from those assets by pledging that same wealth to underwrite commercial insurance risks, which were sliced and diced by syndicates on behalf of their members.

Fed chief and Wall Street white knight Ben Bernanke has spooked investors by uttering the dreaded ‘R’ word.

Although he denied that the US economy is in a recession, speaking before a congressional committee yesterday he admitted that a “recession is possible” in the US.

He also said that the US economy could shrink over the first half of this year.