A question of balance

The familiar backdrop of crises leading to bail-out announcements, market intervention and liquidity injections, which in turn boost markets looks set to remain for some time. It is noticeable however that each so-called stimulus has a progressively weaker effect. The problem with these initiatives is that they are aimed at providing temporary relief for the symptoms of what ails the world economy, rather than tackling the structural illness (of too much debt and severe imbalances in competitiveness, set against a backdrop of deteriorating demographics). Driving interest rates and ...