Central banks have embarked on austere monetary policy to crush inflation. Worries about the financial system, from bond markets to commercial property to the health of the banks, are ever-present. Some 4bn people will head to the polls this year, with unpredictable consequences. Most concerning of all, the world is on fire, with conflicts from Ukraine to Israel and the Red Sea. Other wars, not least in Taiwan, do not feel all that far away. Little wonder that analysts speak of “polycrisis”, “hellscapes” and a “new world disorder”.
