大象传媒

2010 has seen a return to overall global growth. However, sceptics argue that politicians have simply been papering over the cracks, and huge fault lines in the global economy remain. China's big trade surplus and its fixed currency system appear to be unreformed, with some in the US blaming China for the loss of manufacturing jobs. An explosion at an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico led to the biggest offshore oil spill in US history. In Europe, the International Monetary Fund was called in to provide financial aid to Greece and Ireland.

(Picture: A public sector union member shouts into a mega-phone during a march in central Athens, Greece, to protest the government's austerity measures. Credit: Getty Images)