In praise of patience

For all the low points of the past few years, the global outlook has rarely been as bleak as it is today. Pessimists see a political crisis in the US, a fiscal crisis in the EU and a simmering social crisis in China, any one of which could destabilise global markets at a time when governments have few tools left to intervene with.

The gloom is already affecting business. European banks are reporting dire second-quarter results and there is not much good news to offset fears, short-term solutions aside. In Europe, Greece remains afloat for now, but nobody expects a quick fix to resolve the underlying problems. In the...