Confidence in the economy has sunk to a new low among consumers following a run of bad economic news, according to the Nationwide.
The best and worst case scenarios for the UK economy over the next year present two very different pictures.
House prices
Worst case scenario: House prices drop by 20% from 2008 to 2009. Continuing low levels of mortgage availability will prevent people raising the funds they need to get on the housing ladder. This will result in a lot more sellers on the market than buyers, putting buyers in a very strong position to negotiate prices down.
Best case scenario: House prices fall this year by a figure in the mid-single digits. If the Bank of England's Special Liquidity Scheme frees up the mortgage market to make more money available to lenders, borrowers will be able to borrow more under less stringent conditions. Relaxed lending criteria and reduced rates will enable people to start buying property again and trading up the ladder.
Oil prices
Worst case scenario: Oil prices rise to 200 US dollars a barrel or more. "It's not entirely implausible they would rise even further than 200 dollars," said Jonathan Loynes, chief UK economist at macroeconomic research consultancy Capital Economics. "If that were to happen, we'd undoubtedly be looking at full-blown recession in a number of developed countries, including the UK and US, because inflation would be pushed up."
Best case scenario: Prices fall back to more sustainable levels of below 100 dollars per barrel - 70 to 80 dollars per barrel by the end of the year, for instance. With an increasing level of supply in response to higher prices, prices will eventually be brought back down to these levels.
Food prices
Worst case scenario: Food prices carry on rising at current levels or accelerate further. This will squeeze the amount of money people have to spend on other items.
Best case scenario: Food price rises decelerate to 2-3% or prices actually start falling and food inflation turns negative. Falling food prices would boost real incomes and allow central banks to cut rates. "This might happen but it's not an immediate prospect," Mr Loynes said.
Interest rates
Worst case scenario: Oil prices continue to rise and hit 200 dollars per barrel, driving up electricity and gas bills sharply. This could drive inflation above 4% and the Bank may have to raise interest rates to curb inflation. This would be bad news for economy as it would slow it down.
Best case scenario: A mild slowdown, with banks growing more confident and beginning to kickstart lending again. If oil and food costs were to level off at current prices and remain there, inflation would reduce back to zero eventually and interest rates would not have to be raised to curb inflation.
Employment levels:
Worst case scenario: Unemployment rises as high as it was in the 1990s, with two million or more unemployed.
Best case scenario: There is some increase in unemployment but the rise remains as low as 100,000 or 200,000.