“Usually they say it’s not an issue for us … but then every three to six months we find out we can’t escape,” said ING’s Brzeski.

A recession in the US would make the European Central Bank’s already “overly optimistic” growth forecasts “obsolete,” he said.

However, if ECB President Christine Lagarde were asked about the consequences of a “hard landing” of US interest rates, she would still answer: “We have a strong domestic economy, we are independent and we are sticking to our forecasts.”

And he added: “Of course that was never true.”

In addition, EU governments have limited capacity to respond to financial difficulties and are forced to reinvent their European self-defence equipment every time a crisis arises.

So your summary of the end of the world…

The US will go into recession, Europe will follow and remain in recession until at least mid-2025, and EU governments will start… simply discussing what to do.

Brzeski predicts new turmoil over budget rules and debates about how to deal with economic problems.

Added to this are the growing mountains of debt in some of Europe’s largest countries – France and Italy in particular – which are still untapped powder kegs but which could explode if a crisis like that of 2008 were to occur again. Then there would be the prospect of rescue packages for entire economies.

This is the point where you can wake up in a horror movie…

Oh, and one more thing

Another potential cause of economic damage is somewhat more mysterious.

Japan’s central bank had made loans in the country very cheap. But now the tide is turning.

A truly staggering amount of money – up to a trillion dollars in yen, according to investment research firm TS Lombard – was borrowed by investors. Some of that money went into European equities, and now that debt must be repaid.

There are signs that the Bank of Japan may have to expect further interest rate hikes, which means that such disruptions in financial markets are likely to continue, says Wattret of S&P Global Intelligence.

“We are moving into a phase that we have not seen in decades,” he said. “We have to assume that conditions will be more volatile in the future. It will be a bumpy ride.”

In the worst case scenario, a sell-off in European equities to repay yen-denominated debt could drive down asset prices in Europe, which in turn would impact investment in the real economy.

Due to the ongoing economic slowdown in China – another major buyer of European goods – there is a risk that the cold could develop into full-blown flu.

But keep your head up…

…it might never happen.