It has been a pretty miserable start to 2018. At one point the FTSE 100 index had fallen by a tenth and it has not recovered much since then.

What’s the reason? At first I thought it was just a normal reaction after a good upward run at the end of last year. I was not too concerned. But then I saw a commentary by Professor Tim Congdon, the economist, who noted that growth in the money supply in America has slowed right down and that weak money growth is likely in the eurozone this year, too. 

That matters because the first thing that a cramped money supply affects is the stock market and British shares are strongly influenced by what is happening elsewhere. 

Of course, the Federal Reserve in...