Once thought of as the ultimate economic danger, inflation is now generally recognised to be an acceptable, sometimes even necessary, ingredient in the recipe for growth. However, this laissez-faire attitude could end up distorting contemporary perceptions of economic success

There is talk in the eurozone of adopting a principle of joint liability, so that credit risk can be spread equally across all member states. Many argue this will undermine stability by encouraging governments to pursue unwise fiscal policies

High-income countries should be doing more to fight extreme poverty, climate change and inadequate educational standards. With many regional bodies suffering from underfunding, however, it may be time to introduce a global tax system to help fund such solutions

With officials caught between consumers’ demands for sound financial practices and bankers’ requirements for regulatory freedom, it is possible that recent warnings over the state of the global economy are merely designed to protect regulators in the event of a crisis