Securities and Investment Institute briefing speakers, from the left: Rohit Talwar, Rupert Stow, Justin Urquhart Stewart, George Littlejohn, Roger Nightingale and Julian Parker. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0662736)

STOCK markets should temporarily close to ease the global financial crisis, according to a leading industry strategist.

Futurist and CEO of Fast Future Rohit Talwar made the claims at the Guernsey Branch of the Securities and Investment Institute’s second annual investment briefing.

He said policymakers and regulators had to act decisively and buy themselves some time to sort out the global economy and that shutting stock markets along with currency markets was one option they should strongly consider.

Mr Talwar said currencies could be set by their five-year averages and that it was madness to carry on trading when many of the people in control could no longer even read the data in front of them.

‘We have to take the steam out of it and get people to calm down. We need the policymakers and regulators to be given time to come up with an effective long-term solution that restores confidence on main street and gets people spending again. At the moment all we are doing is destroying massive amounts of value of individuals’ wealth, which further erodes their confidence and willingness to invest.’

The current stock market situation was ‘crazy’.