Christine Lagarde, the head of the European Central Bank, believes the global economy is in deep trouble, and about to hit a recession. She drew comparisons to the 1920s, when economic instability and bad decisions led to the Great Depression.

The European Central Bank must think hard about how it deals with risks and uncertainty in an era of more-volatile inflation and less clarity about monetary-policy transmission, President Christine Lagarde said.

Profound shifts in the world economy could make inflation volatile for years to come, complicating efforts to control prices, but sticking with inflation-targeting regimes is still the best option, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Friday.