The progress towards yesterday's co-ordinated interest rate cut was a story of steady progress being dramatically accelerated since the weekend.

The series of rate cuts around the world after September 11 2001 was disjointed and left an impression of misunderstanding between the central banks. Yesterday's move, by contrast, was seamless; even the wording of the statements was co-ordinated, with common sentences referring to the "recent intensification of the financial crisis", which had "augmented the downside risks to growth".