Like a Victorian bather who prefers to remove her garments when no one is looking, this economic collapse in the making (if that is what it is) seems to have mastered the illusion of levitation. It stands to reason the phenomenal Chinese growth rate was unsustainable, and that it global influence would be felt. That commodities took a hit is probably no more than a over-due correction. Gold still seems way above its historic price. Oil suffers high production cost yet we bemoan its demise in the face of the effect it has had on global warming. Let’s rejoice that one. Nervousness in inter bank lending in interesting. Over-valued US stocks and QE has been an unfolding drama that share much in common with the Victorian bather. It will be interesting to see how Chinese stocks and housing bubble are master-minded by state capitalism, and how much understatement covers up the damage. How you quantify Greece and EM woes depends on what you see as the impending disaster. Will is be global, or asymmetrical? A crash, or a long drawn out battle of wills with central banks at the helm? Or is everything as ‘normal’ as it ever was, but we are just fixated with hanging onto what we don’t own and can’t have?
