17 July 2019updated 07 Jun 2021 2:36pm

To escape the next recession, we need to move beyond boom and bust

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 24: City workers walk past the Bank of England, in the financial district, also known as the Square Mile, on January 24, 2017 in London, England. Following the announcement by Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May that Britain will leave the single market, financial organisations such as UBS and Goldman Sachs have reported that they are seriously considering either cutting staff or moving them from London. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

On 14 July the Resolution Foundation released a report warning that the UK is on the cusp of another recession. Uncertainty about both the domestic and international economy is driving the kind of pessimism that tends to deliver economic downturns. Add to this that the UK tends to experience a recession every 10 to 15 years, and the signs do not look good.

Many early political economists assumed that recessions were only ever caused by external shocks such as natural disasters and wars. Later, Marx argued that capitalism was inherently prone to crises – whether due to overproduction, underconsumption or speculative manias.