Global economy: If a triple bubble looms, can we survive a triple burst?

November 28, 2025-The global economy faces three potential financial bubbles related to cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and debt.
All three are interconnected.
Bubbles tend to cause serious short-term pain when they burst-but they can also fundamentally reshape economies with lasting benefits.
It's not exactly reassuring when so many people start scanning the past for a read on what's happening in the present.

Global economy watchers have inundated the internet with historical parallels for the triple financial bubble at hand, inflated by hopes and dreams for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, and previously unimaginable levels of borrowing.

Potential reference points for different aspects of the AI-crypto-debt hydra abound. There's the mid-19th century British mania for buying into newfangled "railroads", with a fervour reminiscent of investors in the companies now building AI infrastructure. Or Dutch tulip fever in the days of Rembrandt, foreshadowing elements of the crypto rush. Even the credit lines that were once maxed out to prevent Napoleon from conquering everything in sight, presaging the current debt deluge.

Is the world ageing out of interest rates?

December 3, 2025-Interest rates are a key monetary policy tool used by central banks around the world to encourage changes in economic activity.
But as the global population continues to skew older, traditional monetary policy tools such as rate-setting may become less effective.
Central banks need to find ways to keep interest rates relevant, but also develop alternative tools to navigate an uncertain global economy.

Goods trade growth set to moderate as barometer index dips

November 28, 2025-Goods trade growth appears to have slowed in the second half of 2025 following a surge in the first half driven by frontloading of imports ahead of expected tariff hikes and by rising demand for AI-related products, according to the latest WTO Goods Trade Barometer.

Global economy: If a triple bubble looms, can we survive a triple burst?