The unwinding drama in the credit markets already looked like a Greek tragedy before the appearance, yesterday, of a deus ex machina. When Greek dramatists could not resolve a tragedy, a god could be winched on to the stage using a crane.

Markets initially treated as divine intervention the news that the Federal Reserve would expand its term securities lending facility to $200bn, and accept mortgage-backed bonds as collateral for up to a month. The move should give the affected players more time to deal with liquidity difficulties.