How the world economy learned to love chaos
War, high interest rates and financial strife are yet to bring down growth
![Ukrainian servicemen fire from 120 mm mortar during military exercises](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240217_FNP003.jpg)
Central banks have embarked on austere monetary policy to crush inflation. Worries about the financial system, from bond markets to commercial property to the health of the banks, are ever-present. Some 4bn people will head to the polls this year, with unpredictable consequences. Most concerning of all, the world is on fire, with conflicts from Ukraine to Israel and the Red Sea. Other wars, not least in Taiwan, do not feel all that far away. Little wonder that analysts speak of “polycrisis”, “hellscapes” and a “new world disorder”.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Putting out fires”
Finance & economics February 17th 2024
- How San Francisco staged a surprising comeback
- Investing in commodities has become nightmarishly difficult
- How the world economy learned to love chaos
- The Ukraine war offers energy arbitrage opportunities
- Is working from home about to spark a financial crisis?
- In defence of a financial instrument that fails to do its job
More from Finance & economics
![Solar panels installed on the roof of a building at Skardu in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250215_FNP002.jpg)
Cheap solar power is sending electrical grids into a death spiral
Pakistan and South Africa provide a warning for other countries
![People walk at Zaryadye park with the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral in the background in Moscow, Russia.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250215_FNP502.jpg)
Russian inflation is too high. Does that matter?
In a strong economy, price pressure can endure for a long time
![illustration of a house cut in half diagonally, the lower corner being a bill.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20250215_FND001.jpg)
Why you should repay your mortgage early
For the first time in decades, the arithmetic suggests settling housing loans
How AI will divide the best from the rest
Optimists hope the technology will be a great equaliser. Instead, it looks likely to widen social divides
The danger of relying on OpenAI’s Deep Research
Economists are in raptures, but they should be careful
Elon Musk is failing to cut American spending
DOGE has so far disrupted everything in government bar the deficit