This will be the last that we hear of 'beggar thy neighbour' policies now that we know Germany has guaranteed all private bank accounts following the collapse of Hypo Real Estate. Maybe this step, already in the minds of German policymakers, was the lever that allowed Angela Merkel to reject a bail-out at Saturday's meeting of European leaders. As a step, it marks the end of any unity from the EU in respect of this crisis, as Germany refused point blank to bail out Club Med.
The country's second-largest mortgage lender, Hypo Real Estate, has announced it is on the brink of failure after a £28bn bail-out deal fell apart.
Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that if the German government fails to salvage the rescue plan, the institution's crisis will become "a crisis for the entire system".
A finance ministry spokesman later announced the move to guarantee all private savings accounts, according to the AP news agency.
Gordon Brown's paralytic activity has resulted in rhetorical questions and spindoctor mantras without involving much destruction of taxpayers' cash. The piecemeal approach may not allay the systemic crisis but it has so far prevented the wrong policies from being applied as our neighbours have been forced to undertake. His ratrun of international meetings and conferences with the collectivity of decapitated chickens will not prevent or slow down the storm.
Will we have to take the same steps that the Swedes applied in 1990?