Markets: Worrying cracks

Markets tried to calm down last week, but they couldn’t manage. It may be that the underlying problems are too great. As recently as last Wednesday, the early August market panic looked to be winding down. Equities were again flirting with record highs. More than two-thirds of the risk aversion had been reversed, according to a SocGen index. The commercial paper market was still almost frozen, but a rescue was on the way, in the form of a US-government supported $75bn super-SIV. But then the n...