Those headlines are always accompanied by pictures of men in front of computers, ties askew, heads in hands as they wave goodbye to their bonuses. The latest end-of-the-world as we know it ‘plunge’ was triggered, as always, by something non-sensical, the fear that because more people in the US have jobs, they might spend more, push up inflation and maybe interest rates. The glass half-full version might be that companies will do better and make more profits as a result. But if a herd of wildebeest think they’ve seen a lion on the horizon there’s no persuading them it’s a trick of the light. And that’s how stock markets work.
“Global stock markets fall sharply amid fears over inflation and China slowdown”
Diesel at my local filling station now costs over £7.50 a gallon (kids etc.). Not my problem these days, but I’m sadly old enough to remember the furore in the 1970s when the price went up to 50p a gallon.
