Vincent Cable explains the causes of the world economic crisis and how we should respond to the challenges it brings. He shows that although the downturn is global, the complacency of the British government towards the huge 'bubble' in property prices and high levels of personal debt, combined with increasingly exotic and opaque trading within the financial markets, has left Britain badly exposed. Yet we need to be vigilant in our response to the dangers confronting us. Times of crises inevitably bring forth false prophets who offer easy panaceas and identify scapegoats. However, Cable shows that an insular response to the current crisis would be a disaster and urges us to resist the siren voices that promote isolationism and nationalism as the answer to economic woes. He argues that policy makers must keep their faith in liberal markets if the remarkable advances in living standards, which are now being extended to the world's poorer countries, are to be maintained.