When global equities fell out of bed on Monday, they cast an interesting verdict on the policy response to the financial crisis. On Wall Street concern about a lack of consumer confidence in the US prompted the slide. In Shanghai, where the damage was notably worse, those same fears were exacerbated by a worry that the Chinese authorities would curb bank lending.

There are a number of problems here. But first, a reprise is in order. To escape from the global imbalances that are at the root of this financially induced recession, creditor countries need to stimulate their economies while the mainly Anglophone debtor countries moderate their excesses.