Her hit book Doughnut Economics laid out a path to a greener, more equal society. But can she turn her ideas into meaningful change?

Consider the electric car. Sleek and nearly silent, it is a good example of how far the world has progressed in fighting the climate crisis. Its carbon footprint is around three times smaller than its petrol equivalent, and unlike a regular car, it emits none of the greenhouse gases that warm the planet or noxious fumes that pollute the air. That’s the good news. Then consider that the battery of an electric car uses 8kg of lithium, likely extracted from briny pools on South America’s salt flats, a process that has been blamed for shrinking pasturelands and causing desertification.

The 14kg of cobalt that prevent the car’s battery from overheating have probably come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where cobalt mines have contaminated water supplies and soil. As the demand for electric vehicles grows, the mining and refining of their components will intensify, further damaging natural ecosystems. By 2040, according to the International Energy Agency , the global demand for lithium will have increased more than fortyfold.

A survey of the last 100 years of financial disasters shows that they’re a fact of life – but there are lessons to be learned

For those who pay close attention to the business pages, recent weeks have made for nervous reading. One after another, regional US banks with billions of dollars on their books have collapsed. European banking stalwart CreditSuisse was bought in a fire sale. Rumours spread about who might be next. Are we … could it be … it’s not going to be another financial crash, is it? All of which makes Linda Yueh’s new book almost alarmingly timely, as if she were tanking the global economy as the mother of all guerrilla marketing stunts.

She opens with the bad news: economic crashes are a fact of life, and there will always be another one coming. Not only that, but however much they have in common – she surveys 10, from 1929 to 2020 – the next one will be the result of a novel combination of factors. There’s no formula that allows us to reliably forecast and avoid.

UK at particular risk due to high government borrowing following pandemic and Ukraine war

Financial markets could fall sharply if stubbornly high inflation forces central banks into further aggressive increases in interest rates, a leading international body has warned.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said ever-higher borrowing costs could put the global financial system under severe stress and send share and bond prices tumbling, as it expressed concern in its half-yearly update that the full impact of tougher policy was yet to felt.

Combined impact of Covid crisis, Ukraine war and tough measures by central banks taking heavy toll

The world’s poorest countries are the biggest losers from a global economy failing to cope with the combined impact of the Covid pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the tough anti-inflationary measures taken by central banks, the World Bank has said.

In its half-yearly update, the Washington-based body said the international community was well off course to meet the UN’s 2030 anti-poverty development goals and warned of the risk of a fresh debt crisis for the most vulnerable countries.

Work on residential building sites slips in May to weakest level since 2009

• UK banks pull hundreds more mortgage deals as fixed rates rise

Britain’s housebuilders are cutting back on the construction of new homes amid signs that potential buyers are being spooked by the prospect of fresh increases in mortgage rates over the coming months.

The latest report on the construction sector found that work on residential building sites slipped in May to the weakest level since 2009, apart from when sites were locked down during the pandemic.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

• CBI’s survival hangs in balance as trade bodies cast fate-defining vote

Some CBI members have voiced their support for the group, ahead of today’s vote.

About a dozen firms, including engineering giant Siemens, Microsoft and oil firm Esso, signed a joint letter published in The Times on Monday backing the CBI and its overhaul.

Consumers increasingly claim that manufacturers are reducing the size of products, Barclays research finds

Hard-pressed consumers feel they are becoming the victims of food industry “shrinkflation” amid signs the UK’s persistent cost of living crisis is making households more alert to the need to get value for money.

With food prices up by almost 20% in the past year, the latest snapshot of consumer activity from Barclays found households were concentrating spending on essentials and increasingly concerned that manufacturers were reducing the size of products such as chocolate bars and packets of crisps.

Mortgage market turmoil prompts record numbers of people to take out loans of more than 35 years

Hundreds more home loan deals have been pulled by banks and building societies since the end of last week while rates on new fixed mortgage deals are continuing to ratchet upwards, the latest data reveals.

The continuing turmoil in the mortgage market is also prompting record numbers of people to take out loans of more than 35 years in an attempt to make their monthly payments more affordable.

Rolling coverage of the latest economic financial news

• Full story: Opec+ to extend cuts in oil output into 2024 as prices flag

Rising mortgage rates are forcing more borrowers to take out lengthy loans.

A record share of first-time buyers are taking out mortgages with terms of 35 years or more, the Telegraph reported yesterday , rather than the ‘typical’ 25-year term.

“Whilst this has been a long-term trend seen since 2010, the growth in borrowing over a longer term accelerated rapidly through 2022. As 2023 began we have seen the growth in longer term borrowing level off.

Although tentative at this stage, this may signal that the extent to which this option can be used to stretch affordability and meet underwriting requirements is reaching its limit.”