We are living in a depression - that's why Trump took the White House

The dictionary definition of a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity, which sums up precisely what has occurred since 2008. Growth rates globally have remained low despite colossal amounts of stimulus. Living standards have barely risen and the threat of deflation has loomed large. The depression since 2008 has not been as severe as that of the 1930s but there are echoes of it all the same: in the food banks that are the new soup kitchens; in the mass movements of migrants in search of a better life who are the modern equivalent of the Okies in the Grapes of Wrath; and in Trump, who has tapped into anger that has been bubbling away quietly for decades.

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As in the UK, the outlook for working people in the US has improved over the past couple of years because the collapse of energy prices has led to lower inflation and higher real incomes. But it has not been enough to counter the feeling that the system is rigged.