For most of the past year, senior bankers have struggled to avert a collapse of faith in modern finance. Tragically, as this month’s events show, they have largely lost this fight.

Now, however, this war has entered a new, and potentially even more dangerous phase. As markets have embarked on their roller-coaster ride this week, what has triggered this panic is not just the question of whether it is safe to trust banks. Instead the great unspoken fear now is a broader one: can we really trust that governments actually have the power to stop this panic?