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The collapse and subsequent sale of the US investment bank Bear Stearns for just 10% of its pre-crisis market value marks a new low in the current financial problems that are affecting not just the US, but, increasingly, Europe and Asia.

In the past month, funds under management by Carlyle Capital and Peloton have both collapsed, Lehman Brothers has seen its value drop by more than 20 per cent, and Terry Smith, the chief executive at London-based Tullett Prebon, told The Independent: "I  have been working in finance in the City and worldwide for 34 years, and I have never seen anything like this. I don't think anybody alive has seen events of this seriousness and magnitude affecting the markets."

According to David Miles, the chief UK economist at Morgan Stanley, the UK now has a greater than one in three chance of entering recession this year.

What is as yet difficult to gauge is the likely impact upon consumer spending, and the subsequent effect upon demand for road transport. If nothing else, it seems probable that more restrictive lending policies will reduce demand for big-ticket items, which are frequently financed by debt. Moreover, with both business and consumer confidence within the UK now at a six-year low, it would seem probable that 2008 will see greatly reduced consumer activity, and the knock-on effect into the supply chain will almost inevitably be negative.

"Government finances are stretched, so there is not a lot of room to ease  fiscal policy - government spending is peaking, the housing market is in the early stages of setback compared to the US with all the likely knock-on impact on consumer spending," says Schroders chief investment officer Alan Brown, quoted by Thomson Financial. "And the export sector is having to deal with the effect of a high pound. So, you've really got everything conspiring against us at the same time."