The Guardian view on the economy: learn the lessons of 2008 before the next slump hits | Editorial

The debate about prevention and cure needs to break out of the confines of the seminar room and into the political debateThe Federal Reserve on Wednesday shrewdly declined to draw firm conclusions about recent mercurial swings of the markets. But investors are at least wary about a new global downturn. Citizens are similarly apprehensive: on Wednesday, Ipsos Mori’s confidence index gave the gloomiest reading in three years. Meanwhile, the economics profession has still only done a fra