Europe is left at the mercy of world events. The Fed is pressing ahead with $10bn of tapering each meeting, slowly forcing up the global price of credit and tightening the vice further for emerging markets. The bank has ignored the pleas for mercy from the developing world - still addicted to dollar liquidity - just as it did in the months before the Asian crisis in 1998. The OECD warned this week that the real impact of Fed tapering has "only just begun" and the effects threaten to ricochet back into Europe through trade and banking stress in emerging markets.