It didn’t seem at all likely – just a few months ago – that any central bank of note would talk about monetary tightening. But they are now. Bank of Korea has said that it is preparing to pull back on the extraordinary stimulus extended during the pandemic. This is in response to accelerating inflation and a build-up of dangerous imbalances. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has flagged a 0.25% rate increase to 0.5% by September 2022. Meanwhile, the Bank of England has announced a reduction in the pace of bond purchases from £4.4 billion per week to £3.4 billion per week. It would appear that central bankers see three things happening. The first is a gradual pick-up in economic activity. The second is rising asset prices. The third is pockets of inflationary pressures. We can argue the toss about whether the revival in economic activity is uniform. It c...