Contributor(s): Professor Edward C. Prescott | The recent collapse of financial markets plunged economies around the world into recession. The series of events following the downfall of Lehman Brothers last September scripted an unprecedented chapter in economic history. Whether it was enormous bail-out packages, monetary policy or quantitative easing, economies around the world took expansive steps to stay afloat. This leaves us in a very sensitive and interesting position today. Is the worst over? With US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke declaring the end of the recession, will we see dissipating unemployment, growing GDPs and bullish stock markets? And most importantly, what changes, if any, will we see in economic policy? American economist and Nobel laureate, Edward Prescott, answers such imminent questions in his talk 'The current state of the economy' at the LSE.