Summers of discontent?

LONDON: Asset managers, diplomats and politicians disappearing for long summer holidays should beware: if history is any guide, major events from wars to crashes happen often when everyone heads to the beach.

Last summer, the August "silly season" was shattered by the unexpected war between Russia and Georgia. The year before saw the first ripples of the subprime mortgage crisis and credit crunch, while July 2006 brought the Israel-Lebanon war.

The Asian financial crisis started in July 1997 - in part prompting the Russian rouble crisis in August 1998. Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, while Soviet hardliners briefly ousted President Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991. Further back, World War I broke out in August 1914 and World War II at the start of September 1939.