War and the pandemic left most countries facing high inflation and low growth in 2022. Yet while there is always the risk of further shocks, stagflation need not become a long-term problem, provided monetary authorities maintain restrictive policies.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a nuclear conflict between global powers seems more likely now than it has in decades. The financial world seems to barely notice, though, with a lack of any meaningful negative response in asset markets.
Believers in cryptocurrency insist it offers a transparent, decentralised alternative to the fiat monetary system. In reality, it has all the same inconsistencies, with the added drawbacks of being spectacularly risky, carbon intensive and easily co-opted for cybercrime.
Bitcoin is an excessively risky and environmentally undesirable investment, not a sensible solution to emerging market problems. It cannot possibly serve as a store of value or reliable medium of exchange.