Despite some dire warnings about risky trading and the threat posed by overly indebted banks, the mood last week at the International Monetary Fund's spring conference was one of calm.
We have turned a corner since the financial crisis, the Washington-based organisation says. Normality is returning. And this will mean establishing normal interest rates (up from 0.5% in the UK to 2%-3%, according to Mark Carney), restoring normal inflation and generating steady growth in the west of 2%-3%.
Officials expect the US to lead the way. As consumer-in-chief, it will propel the world economy and global growth much as it has in the last 60 years. The dynamism of the US economy and its huge capacity to buy stuff will make life better for everyone, goes the rather tired argument.
The legacies of the crash will be disposed of quietly. Having spent north of $3 trillion pumping funds into its economy and maintaining the cheapest borrowing costs in more than 100 years, the US central bank will find a way to sell this money back to the market, while at the same increasing rates, without much more than a ripple disturbing the markets.
Central bankers in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and especially in the Federal Reserve will make sure it all works smoothly. Suddenly officials at the IMF are using the term "finely calibrated" in their discussions. No longer are governments involved in crude, large-scale pump-priming to rescue bankrupt banks. Today they execute technical exit strategies that magically restore the old order without any losses or panic.
One official called this the "Goldilocks exit", by which he meant the transition would be one that involved the patient getting neither too hot nor too cold, but with a temperature that was just right.
George Osborne revealed himself a cheerleader for the technocratic answer to debt and financial risk. The chancellor declared on Friday that central banks and regulators would make sure the west's economies had a bright future, as they withdrew the post-2008 stimulus and locked down risky lending.
It would be a neat trick. And the betting must be that it will fail.
It will fail because policymakers will be unable to cope with more fundamental forces at work.
First there are the debts: government debts and household debts across the developed world. Put simply they are still too high. Bank debts in the eurozone and corporate debts in many emerging-market economies are similarly at risk from small financial shocks.
The eurozone poses a particular problem. Spain is growing, but only with the help of government cash. Like Ireland, its banks are still in a parlous state. France is staggering on, but Italy is in permanent recession. Inflation is falling to the point that many worry it will go into reverse. Deflation means not only falling prices but also falling wages. The Germans have blocked initiatives that might boost output, especially in weaker countries, and are preventing the European Central Bank (ECB) from printing money to boost spending. ECB boss Mario Draghi may break free of German control, but any action will be too late. Casualties already lie everywhere.
Another part of the problem is the legacy of savings generated in Asia. That savings glut has had to find a home, and one that provides a good return.
There is about $70tn-$80tn invested in assets of various kinds from government bonds to property and exotic derivatives. The IMF highlighted how a $300bn market in US credit mutual funds in 2000 has grown to $2tn today. These funds are invested in junk bonds that are difficult to sell when the panic starts, making the panic even worse.
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