•  The trade-weighted value of the US dollar has risen appreciably over recent years and, despite lowering interest rates faster than any other country this year, the currency remains at a very high level.
These three factors were really a manifestation of the excessive euphoria associated with the widely held view that the secret of economic success was to pour resources into the “high tech” sector. In the event, the countries that were most exposed to that sector are the ones that are showing the largest falls in output.