Introduction

The new century is barely three years old and many of the certainties of the last century are being re-examined. During the last decade of the last century, there was an overwhelming confidence about the economy. A ‘New Paradigm’ was hailed; the business cycle had been abolished we were told. It seemed that the knowledge economy did not obey the old laws of economics. There would be no longer boom and bust as a new generation of central bankers and prudent Finance Ministers had fashioned the perfect combination of monetary and fiscal policies for us.