It's not exactly pretty out there. Financial markets have traded in such violent fashion of late that even hardened investors wonder whether we are heading into another major bust. The memory of 2008, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers caused a global deep freeze, is still fresh. Hong Kong, too, received a heavy blow at the time. After three short years, could this possibly happen again?
There are plenty of worries to go around. In the United States, the economy is looking wobbly, with especially the manufacturing sector decelerating. Recent wrangling over America's debt ceiling, and the subsequent credit downgrade, only added to uncertainty. There is also the lingering fear that US officials are out of ammunition to counter weaker growth.
Europe, too, is not out of the woods yet. More reforms, and further financial support for the continent's periphery, are probably needed to put to rest market worries. Politics prevents swifter action, so policy uncertainties are bound to linger.
What's more, even Europe's economic engine - Germany and the Nordic countries - has sputtered of late.
The picture, in short, looks challenging. But a repeat of the events of 2008 still appears unlikely. Think of what precipitated the crisis. When it became clear Lehman Brothers was in trouble, after a brief debate, it was decided that it should receive no official support.
Central banks have new instruments in place
At the time, this appeared like a wise decision: in order to forestall moral hazard - the tendency of borrowers to act foolishly if they have no reason to fear the consequences of their actions - the US financial system was thought to require a lesson in risk, and the collapse of a major investment bank was seen as just such a teaching opportunity.
