Incessant crises show old economic model is running on empty | Larry Elliott

Financial crash, slow growth, Covid and inflation pressures fuelled by Russia-Ukraine war highlight faults of current system

First it was a financial crisis. Then a decade of slow growth that bred political anger. After that came a pandemic. Just as the threat of Covid-19 appeared to be receding, along came a European war. Welcome to the era of incessant crises.

Comparisons are often made between today and the 1970s, and in some respects they are appropriate. A global economy already exhibiting plenty of inflationary pressure has been hit by an oil price shock, just as it was in late 1973.