In that sense, one of the main beneficiaries of a weak stock market is the Government itself. It ensures greater appetite among pension funds for state debt at precisely the moment when it is needed most – not only is state borrowing rocketing but the Bank of England’s quantitative tightening programme means it can no longer be relied upon to be a purchaser.
On the contrary, it has become a seller of gilts. That leaves foreign investors – and if there’s one country that is already too reliant on the kindness of strangers it is surely ours.
Pension funds are important to the Government bond market in other ways too – an exodus of buyers risks driving the cost of borrowing from historic highs to unsustainable levels altogether.
On Wednesday, the Treasury borrowed £4bn for two years at an interest rate of 5.67pc – the highest interest rate it has had to pay for two-year money for nearly a quarter of a century.
If pension funds are persuaded to put their money elsewhere then, again, there are serious questions to be asked about who will replace them as lenders.
This means the Government’s poor fiscal management is at odds with its attempts to engineer a revival in the equity market. Amid such a conflict of interest, which has surely contributed to decades of decline, it is hard to see how Griffith’s efforts can succeed.
That’s not to say that Britain’s dwindling appetite for share ownership isn’t a problem.
