Two weeks on from the Spring Statement and Rachel Reeves’ declared ambition to “boost the culture of retail investment” in the UK looks spectacularly badly timed.

The US president’s quixotic tariff announcements caused big losses for investors, with UK, US and global equity markets plunging, before whipsawing back after Trump announced a 90-day pause on some of the planned levies.

Perhaps it is unfair to point this out, given that the odd stock market crash is all part of the rollercoaster ride that seems to lead inexorably — at least in the long term — to higher returns. After all, haven’t we been here before? Whenever global equities have fallen in recent decades — going back to “Black Monday” in 1987 — haven’t they always recovered, and sooner rather than later?