Vicious circles are widening as a helpless world awaits a solution to weak growth, slow demand and deficits.

News reports mainly from Britain and the US show about 600 vicious circles a month, many bubbling from a fiscally challenged Europe.

“The result is a vicious circle: as ethnic identities return, ethnic differences become more pronounced, and all sides fall back on stereotypes and the stigmatisation of the adversary through language or actions intended to dehumanise, thereby justifying hostile actions.” (The New York Times, August 27)

“Washington officials seem to believe borrowing is the way to sustain the federal government — and the economy as a whole — until the private sector improves. But it’s a vicious circle that contributes to the long-term funk.” (The Daytona Beach News Journal, August 22)

“Most (Indian industrialists) have cut back on investment, creating a vicious circle that reduces growth further. Lower growth is not in their interests.” (The Economist, August 18)

“It is a vicious circle: fertility problems lead to stress and stress exacerbates fertility problems.” (The Irish Times, August 14)

“Unaware consumers could find themselves stuck in a vicious circle of credit rejection.” (Manchester Evening News, August 5)

Cliché of the Week appears in The Australian newspaper Mondays. Clichés in the media are tracked across the world using Factiva and Dow Jones Insight.

Chris Pash’s book, The Last Whale , a true story set in the 1970s, was published by Fremantle Press in 2008.