The Next Financial Crisis Could be an Opportunity for Cryptocurrencies
A German proverb goes, “Bäume wachsen nicht in den Himmel,” poorly translated, it says, “Trees don’t grow to the sky,” implying that there are natural limits to growth and improvement. Yet somehow, global economic growth and asset prices seem to be defying this German wisdom. The U.S. economy is on its longest bull run in history and it is oft said that when the last worrier turns into a fully invested optimist, the market has nowhere to go but down. But with asset prices at record highs in developed markets and stocks trading at ludicrous valuations, has the modern global economy managed to shake off the shackles of finite economic growth and development?
At the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank last week, the mood among the glitterati of global finance was somber and with good reason. Old and new superpower rivalries are threatening to destabilize global economic growth, while populism and tribalism have re-entered the global psyche, threatening conflict. Yet the IMF’s World Economic Outlook paints a different picture, continuing to forecast strong economic growth, with global output pipped at 3.7% this year and the next (at purchasing power parity), as it had achieved in 2017.
