Well, ok, perhaps not quite the fire. But reflecting back, how did our European leaders really perform over the past couple of days?

Slightly better than expected. Will it be enough? Of course not.

With so many “known unknowns” haunting the markets in these flighty months of summer, Europe’s leaders just have to pray that it is enough, for now. The biggest positives are that Greece, Portugal and Ireland will get a significant cut in the cost of servicing their debts, and the powers of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) have been extended.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14247133

And of course, the biggest negatives are that this mess still doesn’t seem likely to be resolved for a long long time. Initially, it was said that “if we don’t act now, we’ll be in trouble.” Then it was, “if we don’t act now, our children will be in trouble.” And now it’s, “if don’t act now, our children’s children will have to pay for this mess.” Oh dear.