The Big Picture

Vincent Boland: Global economy is not out of the woods until US stops snowballing deficit

There have been sighs of relief all round as Central Banks take the foot off the pedal of interest rate rises, but America is still on a scary trajectory into the red

Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Board Chairman, said the battle against inflation had given him “a few head fakes”. Picture: Getty.

Do you remember the spring of 2020? It seems like ancient history now, but at the time the world was falling into a dark place as the Covid-19 pandemic wrapped its clammy fingers around our throats. Everything was shutting down, from shops to factories to entire countries. We forget how devastating the impact of that moment was, on multiple fronts. A human tragedy followed, the history of which still has to be written.

As the ...