Economic and financial vulnerabilities making themselves apparent worldwide are pointing to a new massive slowdown over the next year or two, according to the Economist’s Ryan Avent. A decade after the 2008 global recession, the next global decline in economic activity could start in emerging markets, which have been “borrowing heavily” but contribute a large chunk of global economic output. Avent says that the Euro area is also at risk of another debt crisis.

Are governments ready? Not really. Central banks will likely be faced with already-low interest rates when the next recession rolls around, which means they will have to resort to other (unreliable) methods such as printing money to spur spending and growth. Ideally, governments should start taking steps now to get ready for the next slowdown by including measures in state budgets that would increase spending automatically when the economy weakens (watch, runtime: 3:20).