Nor is the ECB off the interest rate hook. Expectations have simply switched to the pre-Easter meeting on April 11. Yesterday's response from the forex market's rapid reaction force was a warning to the bank's president, Wim Duisenberg, of what will happen if he fails to deliver in two weeks' time. For the markets and many analysts, the ECB's policymaking should be a breeze. The US has slowed sharply - at best.
Japan is mired in recession.
Equity markets have a white-knuckled look about them. So, get on with it - cut rates, boost growth prospects and watch the euro rise. The global slowdown and a stronger currency will take care of that. Yet as Mr Duisenberg sits in his eyrie in the ECB tower in central Frankfurt, puffing on the inevitable cigarette, the choice is not quite so easy. The snag is that the impression has stuck.