A strong sense of déjà vu envelops the world economic and monetary scene. Europe is mired in wangles over high-sounding concepts of political sovereignty and
plain old-fashioned dispensation of taxpayers’ cash over the never-ending sovereign debt crisis. Emerging market economies are castigating the West, led by the US, for shamelessly following cheap money policies that raise the exchange rates of ostensibly stronger nations and thus drag them down to the same level.
Commonality between the so-called BRICS countries seems at a low ebb as, once again, the US pushes through its candidate (this time, just to be different, a Korean-American health expert) as head of the World Bank. And, in an election in France, candidates are battling for power with a selection of policies that are all diametrically opposed to those of its great partner, Germany. Surprise, surprise. Somehow, I believe we have been here before.