New World Order Is Coming, Maybe in Helicopters

It is 75 years since the developed world signed up for a new version of the gold standard at Bretton Woods, and almost 50 years since that peg to gold was abandoned. Since then, the world has muddled through with a system anchored to the oil price, and relying on faith in central banks. That is, until now.

Easy monetary policy has delayed the denouement for more than a decade, but if there’s a clear message from the extraordinary market events of the last few weeks, it’s that the current financial order no longer suffices to maintain the stability we’ve grown accustomed to expect. With no sense yet of what that new order might be, and a dearth of global leadership needed to summon it, it’s safe to assume markets and economies are in for a rough period. The coronavirus crisis is just the start.