Indeed, just as the EU is under threat from the backlash against globalisation, it can provide a way to manage globalisation. This is, after all, not the first time that globalisation has been on trial: the period between the First and Second World Wars showed that unregulated global markets are liable to descend into protectionism and nationalism.
At the time of our February report, financial markets at home and abroad were under intense strains, with equity prices at multiyear lows, risk spreads for private borrowers at very elevated levels, and some important financial markets essentially shut. Today, financial conditions remain stressed, and many households and businesses are finding credit difficult to obtain.