World exits 2014 much like it did in 1999. The problems are the same, but they are more serious and seemingly more intractable
Russia is in crisis. There are concerns about the eurozone. Japan is struggling to emerge from stagnation. Booming stock markets seem divorced from economic reality. The Anglo-Saxon economies are outpacing the other developed economies of the west.
This is the world as it exits 2014. But it was also the world as it was 15 years ago during a month in which the first major anti-globalisation protests took place on the streets of Seattle and preparations were made for the nonexistent millennium bug. Oil prices were low. Banks could lend money cheaply. There was talk of how technology would power a new industrial revolution.