Don't bank on there being roaring 2020s to save the UK economy

Inflation and policy errors would put an end to any consumer spending spree

London's blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed at a nine-month high on Friday, finally recouping all the ground lost since the UK went into lockdown in March. The City is not alone. In New York, shares are at levels never seen before. As someone once said: they think it's all over.

And in a sense it is. Current share prices do not reflect the current state of the major global economies, which, outside of China and a few other Asian countries, is grim. Rather, they are looking ahead and trying to predict what life will be like in six months or a year's time.

Related: OECD: UK economic recovery will lag behind all rivals bar Argentina

The pent-up demand story is already evident in the housing market