Markets in an era of clashing superpowers

ARE we entering a new era? And does it matter?

The world is a mixed-up place at present. The situation in Israel is suddenly its most violent in half a century, while a once-unimaginable war in Ukraine drags on with little sign of resolution.

Relations between the US and China are deteriorating rapidly, almost as if Richard Nixon’s visit to Mao Zedong in 1972 had never happened. The US House of Representatives fired its speaker and then needed three weeks to agree on an ultra-conservative alternative.