Bertie Ahern‘s recent touting as a possible presidential candidate (a possibility he has now discounted) put renewed focus on the 2008 economic crash and its devastating impact. But what about the next crash?

A few weeks ago, the front page of the Financial Times carried one of the scariest headlines since the Lehman Brothers collapse: “Global crypto assets soar to €4 trillion” (€3.42 trillion). It followed news that bitcoin – a financial “asset” that is basically nothing – had hit a record high of $123,000, up from $1 in 2011. Its rise has been greatly helped by Donald Trump’s U-turn on crypto.

Just four years ago, he said bitcoin “seems like a scam”. But that was before he realised he could enrich himself by becoming a prime scammer. His family’s media group last month agreed a $6.4 billion deal to buy tokens issued by a crypto exchange that hosts bitcoin and other digital assets. In his role as United States president, Trump has passed legislation, called the Genius Act, to facilitate a massive return on his........

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