David Jane: This time is different … maybe

‘This time is different' are famously said to be the four most dangerous words in investment - as well as being the name of a book on financial crises and debt deflations by Reinhart and Rogoff. While the book was criticised in some quarters for data inaccuracies, its basic thesis that when countries become over-indebted they must in some way deal with that - either through default or inflation - remains valid. At the same time, the authors predicted the unwinding of a debt bubble would take approximately six to eight years, before growth would then reaccelerate. This bull market has ...