Blame the top central bankers for the financial casino

IGNORE pundits who attempt to predict gyrating markets. Some, such as The Guardian's economics writer, are claiming that the plunge could be a signal for another 1929-type Great Crash; others on CNBC and Bloomberg TV are telling readers to buy.

Forecasts are being met with acute scepticism - hardly surprising while markets from Asia to Europe, US and Latin America seesaw. The bottom line is that virtually everyone in banks, broking houses, asset managers, TV channels, newspapers and newsletters have failed to forecast the timing of the global market tumble. Yes, there have been warnings, but most of the "permabears" and other pessimists who have been traipsing around the studios have been sounding the bell of doom for many months, if not s…