We are surrounded by a wealth of technology and innovation. We are promised a world of plenty; a super-efficient system of production and distribution; and a life of leisure. And yet the reality is ecological crises, “secular stagnation”, and eye-watering inequality. In the first of a three-part article, Adam Booth examines the rise of the sharing economy.

World stock markets have been in meltdown from Shanghai and Shenzhen to London and New York. A sea of red blighted the computer screens of the stock exchanges everywhere in a panic global sell-off. Could this crash be a one-off event, which will quickly return to normal, or the beginning of a series of shocks in an unstoppable chain of events?

“Watch out”, alarmed the Economist in this week’s main headline. “It is only a matter of time before the next recession strikes. The rich world is not ready.” The front cover picture said it all: the knight in shining armour of the ruling class, looking backwards at the vanquished beast of the financial crisis, fails to notice that he is walking straight into the salivating jaws of an even bigger monster – and this time without any weapons left at his disposal.