Sudden disarray shatters all the old certainties

Our world - the developed west - has plenty to fret about right now. Our financial system, led by over-exuberant banks, has got itself into a state of sudden and careless disarray. The store of spectacularly-rising value created in our houses threatens to crumble around our ears, as mortgages become harder to get and more expensive, too. The cost of heating and lighting our homes and filling up at the pumps continues to rise, as oil tops $120 a barrel. And that's before any serious efforts are made to price carbon at levels which might help curb on-rolling climate change. Food-price inflation has become a Daily Mail cause celebre, as even the middle classes notice the additional hit in basics, such as bread and cheese, each time they get the plastic out at the supermarket.