Hale: Euro still France and Germany's toy

EURO PLAYTHING

So, "Merkozy's" plan to plan for a plan has had the desired effect - in the short term. The bear squeeze in equity markets has continued and their sick patient, the euro, has had a further remission.

The plan thus far shows little substance over form, but there is an almost palpable feel-good factor around as snippets of good news – strong US retail sales announced two Fridays ago – hit the headlines. At the same time, consumer confidence has reached multi-year lows, propelled no doubt by the doom and gloom of a few weeks ago. Consumers are, however, a fickle bunch. They may say they are less likely to spend, but then along comes the new “iThing” from Apple and it is a case of “shiny thing make it better”. On the agenda at the G20 meeting would have been a number of cunning plans,...