As you point out in your main leader, central banks are expected to perform miracles, and soon (“Central Bankers to the Rescue?” August 13, 2011). They can do a thing or two, no doubt, but they can do only so much. Anyone who has taken a basic course in macroeconomics can tell that something is sorely missing, though. Monetary policy is a good thing, but fiscal policy should be there, as well. They are supposed to work in tandem, after all. But fiscal policy is sorely lacking nowadays. America is stuck between the two warring parties, which appear unable to agree about anything, let alone a meaningful spending program for the government. And Europe is stuck even worse, for fiscal policy is nigh impossible on the sub-continent. It is beyond the reach of the embattled governments that make up the European Union. Under the circumstances, the stockmarkets are left to themselves. Although it is impossible to guess exactly when they will tumble even more precipitously, it is a question of days, weeks, or perhaps months. But the economies of developed countries have nowhere to go but down in the absence of fiscal policies worth that name. Pace, central bankers. They themselves are stuck in a vacuum.