For vampires, the weakness is garlic. For werewolves, it's a silver bullet. And for zombies? Perhaps a rise in interest rates will do the trick.

Economists have worried about "zombie companies" for decades. Timothy Taylor, editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, has followed a trail of references back to 1989, noting sightings of these zombies in Japan from the 1990s, and more recently in China. The fundamental concern is that there are companies which should be dead, yet continue to lumber on, ruining things for everyone.