Have Central Banks Finally Lost Control?

2016 is off to an eventful start. Already, Iran and Saudi Arabia have blundered into a Middle East confrontation while China has had to close its stock markets to prevent a melt-down. On Monday the turmoil spread to the developed world, with US and European share prices plunging while terrified capital poured into cash and gold. The likely result? More hedge fund failures, plunging corporate profits and yet another central bank attempt to preempt market forces by bailing out everyone in sight. Will it work again? Maybe not.