Monday’s fresh outburst of panic on global markets was final proof that as financial crises go, we are now in the big league. Comparisons with the dotcom bubble or even the Asian crisis of 1997 are inadequate. We must think of 1987 or 1929.

With hindsight, 1987 was more contained than today. The brief, savage fall in world equities seemed the prelude to a downturn in the real economy. But the real world sailed on, and other asset classes were largely unscathed.