Low interest rates offer a rare solution that left and right can agree on | Larry Elliott

Governments can opt to repeat the failure of austerity or take the opportunity to invest in the future

It all takes some explaining. The government has borrowed more than 100bn in two months and the national debt ratio is bigger than the economy's annual output, but investors don't care a bit.

Orthodox economic theory says rising budget deficits lead to rising interest rates because the financial markets get nervous and demand a higher price for lending to the state. Not these days. There have even been examples of investors paying for the privilege of lending to the British government.

Related: How worrying is Britain's debt? Surprisingly, we economists say: not very | Ethan Ilzetzki