There seems to be a rise in illusory liquidity in international markets, which appears to be plentiful in quiet times, but vanishes at other times. “Flash crashes” are more frequent. Reforms that have made banks safer have contributed to this, leading to a withdrawal of short-term market participants, and causing long-term investors to act short term. There seems to be a trade-off between day-to-day liquidity and what I call “systemic liquidity.”
