The end is nigh? Just turn down the noise

ABOUT two months ago I had all my wisdom teeth out - well rather the top teeth were pulled and the bottom teeth chopped off. The day this was to happen a speed test I was running on my iPad was interrupted by an ad screaming "The Australian Recession of 2014: why it's inevitable, click here to find out how to protect your wealth" (for a fee) and the headline on the front page of the AFR was "Economy enters the danger zone". Needless to say all this gloom did nothing to cheer me ahead of the trip to the dentist!

This year has seen an endless list of worries. Ukraine, a property collapse in China, the end of quantitative easing and talk of rate hikes in the US, global deflation, renewed weakness in Europe, the Insurgent Savagery (IS) in Iraq, protests in Hong Kong, Ebola, Australian Budget cutbacks, the collapse of the iron ore price, etc.

But last year was the same with the US fiscal cliff, worries about Italy and Spain, Cyprus (remember how the bailout of Cypriot banks was going to destroy the European banking system?), the sequester, Fed taper talk, Syria, the US Government shutdown and debt ceiling, Fed tapering, etc.