The Economist

Central bankers to the rescue?

They can buy a little time, but the real remedy must come from Western politicians

A downgrade of America's credit rating and more worries about the
AMERICAN ECONOMY AND EUROPEAN DEBT caused stockmarkets to plunge again.
Many of the world's share indices have now registered their worst few
days since the height of the financial crisis. The EUROPEAN CENTRAL
BANK bought Italian and Spanish government bonds for the first time,
causing the yields on those maturities to drop and easing the cost of
borrowing for Italy and Spain, but the intervention provided little
relief for investors elsewhere. Despite the downgrade, the yields on
American bonds also came down.