Some good news: Germany, France and Japan recorded output growth in the second quarter of 2009. These rises in output are cheering: they represent work created and profits made. Equity markets have also started to rediscover a little of their swagger: the FTSE 100 and S&P 500 now sit at levels not seen since October of last year.

But as a posse of central bankers – corralled this weekend at the Federal Reserve’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming – were keen to point out, it is not safe to blithely assume that a recovery is now well under way: policy must remain stimulative for the foreseeable future.