Carriers are trying different ways to extract profits from this trend and control the boom that has threatened to clog their networks.

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This would mean countries would be allowed to run bigger deficits in a recession - helping the recovery - but would have to keep a tighter control of spending during the boom years.

BBC: Pressure grows for eurozone rate cut

In the last couple of months, when the London street-crime boom has been brought under control, the Met has shown that diverting officers to deal with it can make a difference.

ECONOMIST: Crime: Don't panic | The

Continued delay now leaves a long boom as the only time to control spending.

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But worries that an oil boom could spark a fight for control are overdone.

ECONOMIST: Iraq, Iran and the politics of oil

This time, the boom has not run out of control.

ECONOMIST: Gordon Brown and the Bank

With inflation under control, central banks are inclined to keep interest rates low and thereby unwittingly accommodate an unsustainable boom in credit and asset prices.

ECONOMIST: Yesterday's financial architecture needs refurbishing