The credit crunch has played havoc with the financial system and caused markets to plunge to multi-year lows. It has resulted in an upheaval in investment banking, asset management and private equity. Its full consequences have yet to be felt. Global recession awaits. The world teeters on the brink of catastrophe.

Pity the poor economist. Long reviled as the dismal science, the meltdown has made a mockery of the views of some of the finest economic brains. Just as they come up with a new theory about what has happened, it is proved wrong. Every time they come up with a prediction about what will happen next, it doesn't. Every time they offer a solution, it doesn't work.