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It was a week in which the banks went to the appeal court over charges, self-assessment taxpayers without internet access got their paper work done and petrol and house prices both fell. And there were more signs of economic doom, except in Europe's largest shopping centre …
The opening of the Westfield mall in west London generated thousands of column inches, with journalists musing on what it said about the economy and society in general. It was the Financial Times that looked at what it meant for house prices, reporting the development was "forecast to provide support to house prices in nearby areas ... and even give a boost to house prices". That should make up for some of the gridlock caused by people on their way to and from the centre.
Worse news on the housing market comes from the Dorset neighbourhood of Sandbanks, or "Exclusive Sandbanks" as it is more usually known. According to the Telegraph the most expensive address in the UK has seen its first repossessions in more than 14 years. It's an ill wind, however, and a local estate agent told the paper he had seen an increase in business as cash buyers seeking a "bargain" came out of the woodwork.
Remember home information packs? They were going to bring down the housing market from within, or so we were told before they were finally introduced last year. In fact, the credit crunch has done much more to dent house prices than Hips ever did, but, as the Evening Standard reported, the new housing minister Margaret Beckett admits they are not living up to the government's hopes. Don't rejoice too soon though: there are no plans to scrap them.
The credit crunch has taken a back seat to lewd phone calls in the papers this week, but people are still suffering its effects. Even Paris Hilton is feeling the squeeze, according to the Daily Mail. This week's Daily Mail Celebrity(-ish) Victim of the Credit Crunch has seen her earnings for hanging round nightclubs plummet from £75,000 on her last to trip to London, to just £25,000 this time round. She could have earned more, apparently, but in exchange for £50,000 one nightclub asked "that she turn up twice, not go anywhere else before or after that evening, and stay for a minimum of two hours", and, frankly, she just wasn't prepared to "work" in those kind of conditions.
As a special bonus this week the Daily Mail also provided a Celebrity Beneficiary of the Credit Crunch. It reported Sir Richard Branson's space tourism venture Virgin Galactic had seen ticket sales double in October. That's still only 11 tickets sold during the month, but enough for the Mail to claim: Super-rich take ultimate flight from credit crunch - into space. Well, it's probably still cheaper than moving to Sandbanks.
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