With growth this tepid, is it time to give 'helicopter money' a whirl? | Larry Elliott

The state of the global economy is particularly worrying because the usual explanations do not apply

Growth is the default setting for modern economies. Humans innovate and improve, find better ways of doing things. Only when shocks occur is this process of steady advance interrupted.

One of the long-established adages in financial markets is that business cycles never die of old age, and there is plenty of historical evidence to support that view.