No matter what anyone tries to do, the markets just do not pick up. After a massive tumble on Thursday, a joint statement by the G20 group of nations Finance Ministers, did little to allay the fears of investors and stocks continued to plummet.

We are not talking about countries defaulting here, we are talking about stagnant job figures the world over, plummeting value of stock, inflation and more. The UK is now also looking shaky, and figures from the US do nothing to put anyone’s mind at rest.

There have been many attempts to kick start the world’s economic motor, but now even China is suffering an economic slowdown. As growth grinds to a halt, deficits cannot be cut without severe austerity measures. But even then, no matter how much you slash, you cannot jump from negative figures to positive surplus figures without batting an eye.

Italy continues to flounder in the mire, and if the rumours about Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s alleged insulting comments about German Chancellor Angela Merkel are correct, then it will do little to help the state of the country.

Berlusconi is too busy trying to gag people while fending off lurid sex cases and allegations by simply smiling for the cameras and posing. He says his coalition government is strong, but it has all now become a farce as things get worse and worse.

Greece continues to plead for more money before it goes bankrupt, but at this rate, people would be forgiven for not giving a hoot. It is clear that the world’s economy really is on a knife edge, but the trouble is that despite all the corrective measures taken, no recovery seems to be in sight. And so, here we are staring a double-dipper right in the face. In his old series of articles Friday Wisdom, Alfred Mifsud had warned of the dangers of this happening, and this newspaper, and other media had done the same. The trouble was, that once the world began to climb out of recession, everyone lost track. Corrections were made to the modus operandi, but as growth returned and jobs began to be created, everyone lapsed into the usual routine.

We cannot afford to do this. 2009 was a watershed and the capitalist (or consumerist, depending on opinion) system will never be able to function in the same way as it did before. The world is over-populated and it is clear that perhaps this cycle of economic governance could be on the way out. Perhaps it is destined to fail, as great economists have always said, systems evolve and change – just as they do in any other scientific field.

The big question now is whether more firefighting can help to restore things to something like they used to be, or whether it is all actually inevitable.

Some may argue that this is doom and gloom. Others may argue that it is too optimistic. Others still may argue that it will never happen. That all remains to be seen. Many researchers have said that the next 30 to 50 years will be a bumpy ride. To a layman, that sounds as though it refers to a period of transition, rather than a period of tinkering. The future, while perhaps not looking all that bright, will most certainly be interesting.