Central banks have navigated through unchartered waters during the three black swan events – the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the unprecedented scale and pace of global monetary policy normalisation – all in the span of three years. More recently, central banks had to quickly change gears from providing stimulus to pandemic ravaged economies to battling inflation with all ammunition at their disposal.
That episode of investor fright has largely dissipated. But left unanswered is the question of why such episodes erupt in the first place. It has become evident time and again that when events are unexpected, more complex, and move more rapidly than is the norm, human beings become less able to cope.