The emergencies policies have bought time for governments to put their budgets in order and tackle the deeper crisis of falling productivity, but this has been squandered. The BIS said leaders have put off the reforms needed to clear out dead wood and unleash fresh energy. Productivity growth in the rich states has dropped from 1.8pc between 1980-2000, to 1.3pc from 2001-2007, to just 0.7pc from 2010-2012. It has turned negative in Britain and Italy.