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Now a special program on the World Service presented by the award-winning

economic writer Martin Wolfe of the Financial Times. Since the start of the

Credit Crunch in August of last year, many commentators believe that the

crisis facing the global economy is unlike anything ever seen before. We are

living in uncharted territory. Martin Wolfe asks if the dynamism of the

developing world will pull rich countries out of their current slowdown in the

world's shifting balance. I've been observing economies around the world for

40 years, including 12 as chief economics commentator of the Financial Times.

In all that time, I cannot remember such a combination of economic

challenges. The world's balance is shifting. American home buyers with poor

credit histories defaulting on mortgages have caused mounting problems in the

U.S. financial markets. For a tiny moment, Shakyp Haleel has warned that the

cost of oil could reach $170 a barrel this summer. His comments caused the price

of oil to surge to a record high. This contributed to sharp falls in share

markets on both sides of the Atlantic. Striking farmers in Argentina, there have

been food riots in Mexico, rationing in Bangladesh and even a stampede in a

supermarket in Beijing. The combination of financial crisis with rising

inflation is astonishing. In the past, a crisis in the world's biggest economy

would have brought lower global demand, a declining growth, and so lower

commodity prices and reduced inflation. We are not witnessing that today. Does

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