It’s stormy outside, it’s October and the financial markets have jitterbugs. Share prices around the world are on the slide while bond yields – particularly in the US and the UK – soared to their highest levels for more than 18 months.
Those of us of a certain age remember all too vividly the similarly gusty weather and financial conditions which came together exactly 36 years ago today on October 19th, triggering a global stock market crash leading to Black Monday and sparking fears of another Great Depression.
Then it was the prospect of higher interest rates and ballooning US trade and budget deficits which led investors to dump shares and other assets as they feared they were over-valued.
