It was, as one economist put it, “a brutal day across risky markets” when on September 15 the S&P 500 shed a massive 4.7 per cent — its biggest one-day decline in seven years. “An ugly day in stocks,” he added. “Locusts” were picking off victims across global stocks, another market watcher agreed.The verdict on the front page of this newspaper was blunt. “Day of reckoning on Wall Street”, the headline declared, complete with a large picture of despondent-looking bankers in Canary Wharf.
If you think something feels slightly off here, you are right. That September 15 shock to markets was in 2008, not 2022. Those despondent bankers were standing outside Lehman Brothers’ European headquarters and Bank of America had just swallowed Merrill Lynch as the global financial system frayed at the seams.
Fast forward almost exactly 14 years and history is not repeating, but it is certainly rhyming.