大象传媒

Tick, tick... boom?

• Mark Mardell
• 13 Oct 08, 02:13 PM

The phrase "financial tsunami" has been used a lot during this crisis, but I have a feeling that for most of us the wave is still towering above us. We know it's going to hit, we are frightened, but we haven't yet felt the impact.

I feel a lot of the discussion going on is scary, but it's very difficult to know what it's going to mean for you and me. To put it another way, it's a bit like discussing in huge detail the behaviour of neutrinos and isotopes before the moment the mushroom cloud appears.

We are still waiting for full details of the French and German rescue plans after cabinet meetings in Paris and Berlin, but they will presumably follow set out after yesterday's meeting in the French capital.

I have been trying to translate it from financial babble into plain English for my own benefit. This is what I think it means:

1. Healthy banking is important for all of us, for jobs and growth.

2. We will do something about it and have been doing stuff, particularly making bank dealings more open to scrutiny.

3. And we need to do more.

4. We will act together to restore confidence and get money flowing again.

5. So that individual countries and the EU's single market are protected, Eurozone countries have to act together following these guidelines: make accounting rules and the rules of the commission flexible enough to ensure banks have enough money to function.

6. We welcome the recent coordinated interest rate cuts.

7. And hope central banks will look at ways of getting more money into the system in the long term.

8. Our governments will act together to make sure banks have enough money in the long term. We welcome semi-nationalisations and guarantees to banks to encourage them to start lending to each other again.

9. It's better if the money can be raised privately.

10. National regulators should act to help increase stability, and value banks realistically, not according to current freak conditions.

11. We will support the financial systems but will make sure the shareholders and management bear the brunt, not taxpayers. And if we act, the banks have to sort themselves out.

12. The summit of leaders on Wednesday should set up new means for coordination between countries.

13. And we'll keep you up to date on how it's all going.

Will this defuse the ticking bomb or even reduce the impact of the blast?

Meanwhile, you'll be glad to know the commission's midday press conference was dominated by a warning about listening to MP3 players at high volume. We may all end up on the streets, but at least we'll have our hearing.

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