However reckless the British government, however botched its “mini” Budget, it alone cannot explain the fragile economic outlook. Interest rates are rising, financial markets are creaking, the strength of the US dollar threatens to reveal that many companies and governments have been bathing costume-free.

“There’s just this incredible disconnect,” says the US economist Jason Furman. “If you’re just looking at the standard economic data, everything looks fine, yet there’s this sense that we’re right on the precipice of something terrible. People are tossing around terms — I think in some cases too loosely — financial crisis, recession. I’ve seen some people warn about a depression.”

Furman was chair of the US’s Council of Economic Advisers during Barack Obama’s second term. Long relaxed about government deficits — “I don’t think we really need to care about the level of debt, I think we need to care about the level of debt service” — he has nonetheless become a leading voice warning about US inflation. He is also one of the bluntest economic commentators. Of the “mini” Budget, he opined: “I can’t remember a more uniformly negative reaction to any policy announcement by both economists and financial markets.”