The grid was built for conventional power stations that drive turbines that create a reliable 50Hz signal and they never stop dead. The grid now has to manage non-conventional sources of power that are not regular, constant, nor predictable and they are located far away from cities. The IEA says the world needs to spend $600 billion a year on the grid.

Regions from Scotland to south-west England have the right geology to potentially yield 18 minerals, including cobalt and lithium, according to the British Geological Survey. Any discoveries would take 10-15 years to yield metals on an industrial scale and the UK would also need to develop domestic mineral processing and manufacturing industries.

Investors have bet that the Japanese central bank will increase its rate. That has led to higher Japanese bond yields. Japan’s life insurers, with assets of $2.9 trillion, sold a record $107 billion of foreign bonds sending a chill through foreign bonds markets. The next wave of foreign bond reductions could more squarely hit corporate bond demand.

Influx of cash following a crisis at regional lenders failed to offset the steady outflows to money market funds that now hold a record $5.2 trillion from $4.6 trillion a year ago. Due to high interest rates, banks earn more on loans, but will need to start offering higher rates to depositors, which will lower their profits. The turmoil has also weighed on bank stocks.

Inflation-linked US Treasury Series I bonds sales topped $40 billion as investors looked for ways to shield their cash from rising prices. The interest rate has two parts. The fixed rate is set by the Treasury for the entire lifetime of the bond. The variable rate is set twice a year and depends on the consumer price index. Each American can buy up to $10,000.

Money market funds (MMFs) invest in short-term debt products. In Europe, investors put €17.7 bln into MMFs in March, much less than $367 bln in the US. European MMFs have grown to €1.5 tln. Only around 40% are denominated in euros and they are focused more on bank debt than treasuries. Taking euros out of banks to put it in MMFs is pointless.

Companies sponsoring well-funded pension schemes can offload their obligations to insurance companies. 5,200 boards of trustees, with advisers and managers will be replaced by 8 insurers. Illiquid assets that are difficult to value, and processing of data of so many people will slow down this process, but the UK's financial landscape will change.

Money in all money-market funds climbed by $304 bln last month because of banking concerns and the higher yields of money funds. The amount might increase by another $1.5 tln over the next year, according to Barclays Plc. Whether fresh cash mostly finds its way into government instruments, will depend on the supply of attractive alternatives.

American workers are keeping large chunks of their retirement savings in cash to protect themselves from another slump in the stock market. It was surprising to see how fearful millennials were in terms of being invested in the market. Sticking with cash will make it harder for millennials to accumulate the $1.3 million needed to retire comfortably.

The government's "Powering up Britain" plan underestimates the task of decarbonisation of electricity by 2035, and removal of all "dirty fuels" by 2050, which represent 76% of total UK energy consumption. There was no attempt to model and cost the needed changes. What is needed is a 400% increase in electricity production and a recabling of the country.

The tightening of EU criteria for green investment has led asset managers to remove the label from €175bn of funds, reducing the size of the market by 40%. The EU commission might now scrap the Article 9 category altogether. Hardly any investment fund meets the 100% sustainability criteria. The EU also still lacks official guidance on using ESG labels.

Paul McCulley: “We always refer to Treasuries as the world’s safest asset. That’s from the standpoint of credit quality. That’s not from the standpoint of asset price stability. There’s a huge difference.” Treasuries posted their worst losses since at least the early 1970s. Another issue is liquidity. In the past month, it has been “significantly compromised.”