Armageddon

While the financial Armageddon rages on, the Belgian government clearly battles on (ahum). In the renewed crisis about Dexia, the group which evolved out of the bank of local and regional authorities, they pulled a stunning deus ex machina. Our former prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene - a man for all impossible jobs - has been named president. As if our voluminous politician could stop the tsunami : there is no breach in the dike he can throw himself into : the dike is gone !

Now, that man is one of the very few politicians I respect (a little) - maybe even more for his style than for his results, which were not bad after all. But putting that man in that spot is an act of desperation of our government. Clearly the French, who took control of Dexia out of Belgian hands a week ago, are standing firm. But letting the fish almost drown before netting it is a dangerous strategy, or should I write game : there might be no fish left.