Wednesday was a withering day for green shoots. The latest quarterly Bank of England inflation report downgraded its growth expectations and lifted its inflation forecasts. Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, went to great pains to stress how little we know about where we are. Amid all this uncertainty, one thing is certain: the authorities must work together on their recession-exit strategies.

As Mr King said, this is not a typical 20th-century postwar recession; it is rooted in the UK’s crisis-shredded balance sheets. Over the past few years, falls in asset prices have left banks, businesses and households poorer than they thought they were. Debts have, therefore, been becoming a heftier burden. While the private sector is paying down its debts and tightening its belt, it will be a weak source of demand.