From the pandemic to slump

Abstract

2020 was the year of the pandemic; 2021 was the year of the (weak) recovery; 2022 was the year of inflation. Spiralling inflation has been driven by energy companies accumulating record profits, not by ‘excessive’ wage increases. But in 2023 there are no signs of any change in the relentless drive of central banks’ ‘shock therapy’ on economies, or of any governments cooperating globally to end the cost of living crisis and avoid a new slump.