The next big test for this government and those around the world is what to do about fiscal policy - taxes and spending.
Given the nasty impact on the public finances of the banking rescue plan, it might be thought that tax cuts and big government infrastructure projects are out of the question.
But if the blueprint left by the great inter-war economist John Maynard Keynes for dealing with slump is deployed, it will mean boosting public investment in huge projects such as Crossrail in London and airport expansion, and cutting the burden of taxation rather than raising it.
That might look totally irresponsible. But all the histories of the Great Depression show that it was not until the government started writing ever-bigger cheques that the freefall in markets and output was staunched.
Nor should we shirk from cutting taxes to give money back to consumers to spend on products to save jobs. Although it hurts the Mail to say it, in these tumultuous times, governments should not be hidebound by fiscal conservatism.
