Demand is soaring for capitalism’s emergency surgeons

With stockmarkets on a tear and the global economy surprisingly buoyant, plenty of pundits are regretting gloomy warnings of tough times ahead for businesses and investors. They may have been wrong about the economy. But in one respect their gloom looks spot on. Last year 159 companies covered by Moody’s, a ratings agency, defaulted on their debts, up from 92 the year before (excluding Russian firms). Since 1980 that figure has been exceeded only in 2001, 2009 and 2020 (see chart). In America the number of defaults almost tripled last year, compared with 2022—and businesses faced no dotcom crash, financial crisis or pandemic.Once-robust companies from Instant Brands, a maker of kitchen gadgets, to Yellow, a trucking firm, have collapsed under the weight of falling sales and rising interest rates. And the situation is getting worse: in the first two months of the year 23 firms around the world defaulted on their debts, according to Moody’s, up from 19 in the same period last year. Creditors of Spirit Airlines, a budget carrier that is bleeding cash, are reportedly weighing their options after a proposed tie-up with JetBlue Airways, a rival, was quashed by a court on antitrust grounds in January. On March 18th Joann, a chain of some 850 craft stores, filed for bankruptcy.