After the financial crash, the economic collision? History may well be kind in its judgment on the international response to the crisis in financial markets. Muddled it may have been, but governments did muddle through. Now the emergency has passed, however, policymakers look set on going their own ways.

We have seen plenty of policy mistakes and mishaps during the past year. The choreography of co-ordination was frequently ragged – even in Europe, where the habit of working together is supposed to be deeply embedded. That said, there was a surprising degree of co-operation, and notably so between rich and emerging nations. China in particular can claim it has been a responsible as well as a big player.

The Group of 20 leading nations is clumsy and imperfect, but has shown itself a better reflection of the distribution of economic power in the world than the old western clubs. The G8 group of rich nations now struggles to be taken seriously, its task not made easier by the present chairmanship of Italy's Silvio Berlusconi.