THE global economic ascent has begun. From encouraging data in Singapore to less-dire global forecasts and earnings from banking behemoths, the corner appears to have been turned on a disastrous period of economic history. But the skid marks won’t easily be scrubbed away.
This climb back up from the coronavirus crash, the worst slump since the 1930s, will be arduous. Deep contractions in gross domestic product will turn to more shallow ones. The lucky countries that do show absolute growth won’t return to their former grandeur for a while. Much will depend on whether the trillions in fiscal and monetary support are withdrawn too quickly. Missteps would be fatal.