Faced with collapsing fish populations, whether the disappearance of the cod fishery on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland or the failure of the North Sea herring fisheries, the reaction has been one of half-hearted measures: too little done too late in a chain of endless procrastination excused by the need for ever more scientific research.
"The measures we have taken, and above all the public's reaction, have led to an improvement, " Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said at a news conference.
"Measures to ease credit conditions for SMEs would be more useful, and cause a stronger market reaction, " said Andrea Cicione, an economist at Lombard Street Research.
While the measures are designed to give bondholders confidence that Spain is getting its gaping budget deficit under control, market reaction was cool.