For the UK, too, if the rise in sterling against the US dollar is sustained, the economic consequences could be painful, particularly when combined with a US slowdown.
At the beginning of last week, economists were betting on an early rise in interest rates; but the Bank of England could find the stronger pound fulfils the same function.
This economic story will play out over months, not at the breakneck speed of the financial markets, and it is hard to predict how its ramifications will ripple across the world.
"There's no new trend established yet," Bloom said. "It's an unsettled time."
But Bernanke, whose hands are on the world's most important economic lever, will have to hope he isn't forced to win the confidence of the markets the way his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, did -- by stepping in to stop the stock market crash of 1987 turning into a global financial crisis.
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