Woodford's demise illustrates the value of capital controls | Larry Elliott

Crises may be a sign of panic, but as 2008 showed, the unthinkable can become the doable

Neil Woodford was once the man with the Midas touch, the darling of the investor community. His record of picking winners was such that money flowed like torrents into his funds.

As time went by, picking winners became more difficult and some of Woodford's growth stocks turned out to be duds. A few eyebrows were raised. Eventually, as investors started to contemplate big losses, many of them asked for their money back. The demands for redemptions became so great that trading in Woodford's flagship fund was suspended for 28 days. Or, to put it in old-fashioned terms, capital controls were imposed.