Photograph: David Cheskin/PA
Cast your mind back a few months and there would have been very few occasions on which the words "credit" and "crunch" appeared in the same sentence - let alone in everyday conversation. But since the subprime mortgage markets of the US started to go bad early last year and Northern Rock began to implode in September, the term "credit crunch" has been cropping up with depressing frequency.
It's the reason why the housing market is grinding to a halt, why first-time buyers are struggling to get loans, and, a more recent warning, why some of us could be doomed to an impoverished old age. It seems every piece of bad news can somehow be traced back to the "credit crunch" - I've even tried to blame it for my recent defeats on the squash court.
The City is certainly feeling the effects of the banks' loss of confidence in each other. So far 5,000 financial services workers have lost their jobs and commentators are predicting that could just be the start.
But how about everyone else? Do the words credit crunch mean any more to you than they did this time last year? Have you lost out, as a potential borrower turned down by a lender or forced to pay more for your debt? Or have you benefited - perhaps through lower house prices? Some people think the credit crunch is no bad thing - as one reader pointed out last week an enforced slowdown in consumption could be good for the environment. Do you agree?
