Market turmoil and the continuing slowdown in growth have led to increased unemployment especially in the developed economies of Western Europe and in the United States.

Unemployment has blighted the life of many millions and has been particularly damaging for young people who have been unable to find jobs even if they have good qualifications. This has meant that in many countries the numbers of NEETS (not in employment, education or training) has swollen.

The obvious answer is to accelerate growth, but this is complicated by the indebtedness of the public sector in many economies. Governments cannot spend to stimulate growth if they cannot borrow at reasonable rates of interest which they and future generations can afford to pay. The debts of many countries including the U.S., Italy and even Japan have been downgraded by the rating agencies. Their judgments may not be correct but markets do pay attention to them and some governments do end up defaulting on their debts.