At least there were only four horsemen of the apocalypse. But reflecting today’s rampant inflation, economist Nouriel Roubini now identifies 10 so-called megathreats, spanning various economic, financial, political, technological and environmental disasters, in his new book Megathreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How To Survive Them. “Sound policies might partially or fully avert one or more of them, but collectively, calamity seems near certain,” Dr Roubini jauntily concludes. “Expect many dark days, my friends.”

Readers of a nervous disposition may want to file this book in the bin before they turn a page. Those braced for an ice bath of pessimism may profit from its gloomy insights about the state of the world. Dr Roubini’s warnings may be alarmingly scary, but they are also disturbingly plausible. One only prays that policymakers have better solutions than the author unearths.