A decade after the eruption of the Asian financial crisis the world is much more prosperous but scarcely, if at all, more secure. Last week the Bank for International Settlements warned in its annual report that we must prepare for "inevitable but unexpected shocks".

The Asian crisis tipped over a line of dominoes, leading to the spectacular collapse more than a year later of Long-Term Capital Management. This time around, disruption in the US sub-prime mortgage sector has triggered a meltdown at Bear Stearns' cumbersomely named High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage fund.