It’s the end of the world, says the curt Mr Wolf

The old City joke about Cassandras – experts who always forecast disaster – is that they have predicted all 20 of the last three recessions.

One is nervous about taking issue with Martin Wolf, the FT’s Godfather of economics, but he lately seems to be impersonating a Quentin Tarantino figure, his Pulp Fiction namesake, the fast-driving Mr Wolf.

If he is curt with you, it is because time is a factor. “I think fast, I talk fast, and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get out of this,” says Mr Wolf. (Both of them).

The world is embroiled in a debt crisis disaster. Everything is doomed, he keeps saying.

His column from Wednesday: Shadow of war darkens on the world economy.

Thanks Mart, picked me right up there.

A letter the same day says Wolf thinks there is no chance that there will be timely, moderate action to deal with the debt “crisis”.

(We only really owe this money to ourselves you know. We’ll pay, or we will let ourselves off. I like the second option.)

Anyway, the letter writer continues, regarding Mr Wolf’s curtness: “The result will be ‘monetisation, inflation, financial repression and a global monetary mess’…if he wanted to encourage FT readers to invest in precious metals and tinned foods, he simply should have said so”.

Again, thanks Mr Wolf. Your help is definitely appreciated. I don’t mean any disrespect.

And I invest in tinned foods anyway, but that’s evidence of a personal financial issue, not a looming global apocalypse.

Wolf is brilliant, of course, and has earnt the right to be as gloomy as he likes.

But what the UK could do with is some sense that it isn’t actually a hopeless country.

A PR campaign perhaps, led by people who don’t look ridiculous.

One that noted we can usually build a bridge from here to there without it falling over.

That the City of London, whatever its present travails, will survive and thrive like it always has before.

That the national debt, while plainly not good, is just another one of those things we will muddle through, like a day at work, or a marriage, or a tin of tuna.

Being pessimistic is easy. That’s our job. Being optimistic is yours.

That’s harder. But crack on. Left just to us, all the news will be bad.