Egged on by the doom and gloom merchants, the country is bracing itself for all the pitfalls of previous recessions -- mass redundancies, plunging house prices and collapsing consumer confidence and living standards.

But for once, history looks unlikely to repeat itself.

A growing number of economists say forget the 1970s and 80s, the slowdown that takes Britain into the new millennium will be both shallower and shorter than its predecessors.

"I'm one of the more optimistic people about the state of the economy," said Martin Weale, a prominent economist and director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

"Yes, the economy will slow, and by more than we thought last July, but we're not on the brink of a catastrophe."

Last week's surprisingly bold half point interest rate cut from the Bank of England's Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) will give the economy a much-needed shot of adrenelin and go some way to lifting the gloom hanging over consumers.

"The move supports our expectations that, while growth is set to slow dramatically over the coming year, accompanied by a significant rise in unemployment, there is a good chance that the economy avoids the out and out recession which has commonly brought UK economic cycles to an end in recent decades," said Jonathan Loynes, economist at HSBC Markets.

Others were more sceptical, saying there was still plenty of work to be done.

"Consumer and business sentiment are so negative that it must be doubtful whether the MPC's action will give a strong enough boost to domestic demand to avert the downturn in activity," said Stephen Lewis, economist at Monument Derivatives.

Bombarded with stories of industry job losses and global downturn, as well as a succession of interest rate rises, British consumer confidence has plummeted to a three year low and there are signs some householdsare battening down the hatches.

The latest results from benchmark retailer Marks and Spencer show demand tailing off as the slowdown grips. First-half profits were down a surprise 23 per cent and the company warned tough trading conditions meant no recovery was likely in the second-half.

But other firms, such as Britain's biggest high street chemist Boots are still notching up impressive sales, suggesting the slowdown in consumer spending is patchy.

Borrowing figures also paint a murky picture. The latest data from the Bank of England show consumers continuing to saddle themselves with over a billion pounds of new debt every month -- unusual behaviour for people who believe a slowdown is nigh.

A number of factors suggest the slowdown this time round will be very different from that experienced at the beginning of the decade.

Consumers are nowhere near as debt laden, company balance sheets are not as stretched and house prices, at 3.5 times average incomes, are not as overblown as the five timesratio of the late 1980s.

And -- perhaps the most important factor -- headline inflation, at 3.2 per cent, is at nothing like the 21.9 per cent it reached in May 1980 when recession was starting to grip.

That will allow the fledgling MPC -- who are facing their first economic slowdown in control of interest rates -- to ease policy fairly aggressively if need be.

They have already shown themselves willing to act decisively in the face of economic slowdown -- the nine-strong committee has, in just over a month, reversed more than half of the rate rises it has sanctioned since it gained power over monetary policy in May last year.

The country's mortgage lenders were quick to follow last week's rate cut with reductions in their lending rates, a move that should help boost consumer confidence.

Ann Robinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said the hope was that new, lower mortgage payments would be felt in time for the Christmas period.

"Conditions on the high street are difficult,"she said. "A lot of belt-tightening has gone on due to fears of redundancy and recession. We hope this reduction in mortgage costs will encourage customers back into the shops."

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown would have been one of the first to cheer the recent rate cut -- the first half point loosening for five years.

His somewhat optimistic forecasts for economic growth next year -- revised down to between one and 1.5 per cent -- rely on hefty interest rate cuts kick-starting the economy.

"Brown will be celebrating," said Loynes.