This is an economic crisis of a magnitude seen only once in a hundred years or more. Unusually, it was not caused by inflationary bubbles in either the financial sector or in the real economy that were brought to a stop by tighter monetary policy from central banks in the form of higher interest rates.
Instead, it was precipitated by a health emergency. In this case, a pandemic. It led governments around the world to shut down their economies by diktat to avoid the spread of the disease: COVID-19 a respiratory illness emanating from bats. Over a million people from around the world have already died.
The shutdown has a severe impact on global growth and on the UK economy. At the time of writing, there is no cure and no vaccine, so periodic shutdowns can occur if cases rise significantly. This is already occurring as winter approaches.
In this talk, I look at the main economic issues it raises for the UK and global economy and over the next few years and, potentially, further ahead.