The world is on a bumpy journey to a new destination and the New Normal.

How long can interest rates stay negative? Think about this. Not only are you lending your money to governments, but you're paying them interest for the privilege of doing so.

It is hard to imagine that, having downgraded the US, S & P will not follow suit on at least one of the other members of the dwindling club of sovereign AAAs. If this were to materialise and involve a country like France, for example, it could complicate the already fragile efforts by Europe to rescue countries in its periphery.

The world is on a bumpy journey to a new destination and the New Normal.

The once-unthinkable loss of the AAA rating will constitute a further hit to already fragile business and consumer confidence.

The world changes! So we're in a situation today where the only policymakers that have flexibility are central banks. But they don't have the instruments! So they've had to experiment, and the more you experiment, the more uncertainty and the higher the risk of collateral damage.

We normally think if you're going to lend someone money, you should get some reward for doing this. In Europe, it's a tax!