At the time of the Middle East war of 1973, Arab oil producers imposed a ban on exports to those countries they regarded as too supportive of Israel.

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But since the most vulnerable people are those in poor countries, they too have to be helped to adapt to rising seas and unpredictable storms.

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Governments of those countries can bail out the banks without too much pain.

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The EFSF in turn provides the aid and guarantees to those countries which need such because their debt burdens are too high, they need to or might default and so on.

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Other countries, particularly those with big stockmarkets, are getting tougher, too.

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But I can't help noticing that they are rather like the arguments that Bank and other UK officials have always given, when asked about policies or targets that are different from those currently being followed here in the UK. Other countries' targets are always either too rigid - or too flexible.

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