Economics

Dan O’Brien: Economists are left scratching their heads as all the indicators go haywire

The modern financial system is so complex and vulnerable to global shocks and pressures that the only certainty is that there is a lot of turbulence ahead

The tower of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt: last Thursday, the bank raised its main interest rate benchmarks by half a percentage point, it was its first tightening of monetary policy in more than a decade. Picture: Getty

When technocrats make mistakes, people’s lives can be badly affected. Policy errors can be so bad that those who make them can come in for national and international opprobrium. Think of the fate of those who were paid to regulate the Irish banking system in the years up to 2008.

The technocrats whose job it is to control inflation now face criticism from many quarters in many countries.

Central bankers did not foresee consumer prices ...