In its briefing for the full meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors that would convene in Mexico City on February 25–26, 2012, the IMF’s headline was stark. The “overarching risk” to the world economy was of an intensified global “paradox of thrift.” As households, firms and governments around the world all tried to cut their deficits at once, there was an acute risk of global recession. “This risk is further exacerbated,” the IMF went on, “by fragile financial systems, high public deficits and debt, and already-low interest rates, making the current environment fertile ground
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