The writer is a financial journalist and author of ‘More: The 10,000-Year Rise of the World Economy’

The recent turmoil in financial markets is a sign of a longer term problem. More than a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, inflation has proved to be far from transitory. That has meant government bond yields, while volatile, have shown no sign of dropping back to the historic lows reached in the past decade.

The knock-on effects have been seen in the past few weeks’ banking sector turmoil after losses on long-term bonds triggered the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The loss of confidence in the sector spread, leading to the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS and an emergency funding deal for First Republic. It seems as if the great speculative era has ended, and a new phase, the great unwinding, has begun.