When a government on the run is being advised by an investment bank on the make, forget about clarity. On Monday Alistair Darling, the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, announced the latest plan for a “private solution” to the Northern Rock crisis. The political priority is to limit the extent, or at least the perception, of taxpayer involvement. Under Mr Darling’s proposal, the true subsidy is almost impossible to work out.

So far, bidders have been unable to borrow cheaply in the market to pay back the government’s emergency £28bn loan. The plan now is for Northern Rock to sell a portion of its assets to a special purpose vehicle. This vehicle would issue bonds, guaranteed by the state, to buy the assets. The proceeds that Northern Rock gets would then be used to pay back the government.