I mentioned yesterday that the two big winners of the EU’s financial bailout plan were Gordon Brown and the EU. Here’s Le Figaro on Brown:
The markets are crumbling, the British banks are at the edge of the abyss, but the crisis seems to have had a reinvigorating effect on at least one man: Gordon Brown. For the past year, the prime minister has never seemed as at ease, as sure of himself and as convincing. . . His radical bailout plan of the financial sector was hailed in every capital, from Paris to Washington, before being taken as an example. (Translated from the French.)
As for the EU, the Economist cites French President Nicolas Sarkozy with all its requisite derision:
Other grandiose claims swirled. For the first time “in history”, MrSarkozy told his colleagues, plans drawn up by the EU had “inspired themeasures taken in other countries of the world, including the UnitedStates.”
As Muhammad Ali used to say, It ain’t bragging if it’s true. On the other hand, it might have been a good idea to wait and see if the plan worked before taking all the credit for it.