In another financial crisis we would have far less wiggle room | Larry Elliott

After the 2008 meltdown, there is limited scope for monetary policy, nations are divided and populism is on the rise

Nobody really knew it at the time but 10 years ago the world was sitting on the edge of the precipice. It seemed like a normal sleepy August but the calm was illusory. The global financial system was seizing up. The collapse of Lehman Brothers was but a month away.

Eventually policy makers finally understood the enormity of what was happening. They responded swiftly and decisively as the crisis spread from the banks to the rest of the economy. They needed to. During the winter of 2008-09, trade and industrial production were collapsing more quickly than they had during the Great Depression.

Related: Interest rate rise: lack of dissenting voices came as a surprise

One of the small comforts from the crisis of 2008-09 was that it generated a sense of international solidarity