Special report  Credit crisis - how it all began  Suddenly, one
August day last year shook the world, turning an Edwardian
summer of prosperity into a grim financial crisis  On the face
of it, there was nothing especially memorable about August 9
2007. With the holiday season in full swing, Britain was in
relaxed, even soporific mood. House prices were rising,
unemployment was falling, the economy was growing at an annual
pace in excess of 3%. Gordon Brown, prime minister for six
weeks, was enjoying a honeymoon with the voters and Labour had a
10-point lead over the Conservatives. The sports pages were full
of cricket and the build-up to the new football season.  It was,
however, the day the world changed. As far as the financial
markets are concerned, August 9 2007 has all the resonance of
August 4 1914. It marks the cut-off point between "an Edwardian
summer" of prosperity and tranquillity and the trench warfare of
the credit crunch - the failed banks, the petrified markets, the
property markets blown to pi