Parts of the developed world appear to be lurching towards protectionism. Can investors plan for a world gone mad? Stock markets, including the JSE, are still puzzling about what to make of the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency.Before the election, 370 of the world’s top economists signed a letter slamming Trump’s "deep ignorance of economics", taking him to task for spreading lies about tax and trade policies.Now that he’s been elected, emerging markets have been hammered. In the past week, the rand fell to a 10-week low of R14.49 to the dollar as investors responded to Trump’s talk of a new era of protectionism, and a likely jump in US inflation. The JSE swung sharply, but ultimately has lost about 1% since Trump defeated Hillary Clinton.US banking giant Citigroup says it has already reversed "our preference for [emerging market] assets and also our preference for government bonds over equities".Globally, shares in banks, mines and oil companies may be the biggest win...
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