Foggy Bottom

The world is saved. The bank (HSBC) in England pays all and any charges, recurring or unexpected, like clockwork, accurately, and refers back if in doubt. The bank here ditto plus invites to soirees, openings of newly refurbished palaces with restored artworks to die for, and shindigs in general to encourage the clientele. Here too, if I want to buy gold the streets are paved with the stuff, or at least the local banks are tooled up to provide it on demand.

And yet, and yet what sense of unease has driven the withdrawal of enough cash to meet wage bills and expected outgoings up to Christmas?

It's all so nebulous. The sums being bandied about are certainly very large, but apart from not seeming anywhere near large enough for what they are ostensibly buying, they are also so arbitrary. Public announcements, statements to the press are dripping with conditionals and intent. And so little is backed up by having been agreed by parliaments and democratic bodies empowered to agree such deals. The conceptual and legal foundations of our society have become ill-defined, outlined in fuzz - property, contract, debt; and the second rank - honesty, probity, reliability, redress. All are going in and out of focus, flickering on and off.

On the whole, it feels better to be sure no-one who has given their labour will be denied their wages because of events beyond control. The only worry now is remembering where the cash is stashed.