Economic crisis: special report

“Dazzling” sales in the week before Christmas, yet forecasts remain gloomy as plunging profits threaten to close more shops. Channel 4 News asks: what is the future of the British high street?

Britain faces a difficult year in 2012, says the prime minister in his new year’s message – but he pledges the coalition government will do “everything it takes” to get the country up to strength.

The leaders of France and Germany use their new year’s day messages to predict that the coming year will be more difficult than 2011.

With austerity looming, pension strikes back on the agenda and youth unemployment on the rise, is intergenerational conflict inevitable? Channel 4 News hears from both sides.

Amid growing fears of intergenerational conflict in difficult economic times, Saga’s Ros Altmann writes for Channel 4 News on why the needs, rights and talents of our ageing population matter.

A bumper Boxing Day and up to 12 million shoppers on the streets on Tuesday – but economists are still warning of gloom for the British economy in 2012.

As the British high street emerges from 2011 a shadow of its former self, Channel 4 News looks at the brands gone bust, or hanging on by a thread, at the end of a difficult year.

From the Arab Spring to the eurozone crisis, Channel 4 News casts an expert eye on the events that changed the world this year.

US child homelessness is highest in the capital, Washington DC, but as Matt Frei reports, some families are showing remarkable resilience in the face of hardship.

The struggling music retailer will bid to sell the live music arm of the business in an attempt to boost finances, after its half-year losses nearly doubled.

The financial regulator is unveiling new rules for banks on approving mortgages to make sure customers are not able to borrow more than they can afford.

Chancellor George Osborne announces plans to separate high street and investment banking to prevent another crisis – in “the most far-reaching” financial reforms of the modern era.

France dodges downgrade but credit agency says it’s too late for a comprehensive solution to the sovereign debt crisis as other countries’ ratings slide.

With the war of words continuing over the relative health of the British and French economies, money market rumours suggest France could have its credit rating downgraded, as Jane Deith reports.

The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, warns that immediate action needs to be taken to prevent a global depression not seen since the 1930s, as eight of the world’s biggest banks are downgraded.