Thus the Financial Times today. “Europe is preparing to act,” claims the newspaper. Really? Look into the details, though. Europe is good old Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank. And action is more quantitative easing. Printing of money and buying of bonds, that is. And that is all there is to the growing hopes, too. The rest of Europe is not prepared to act. Worse, there is no action the rest of Europe can even imagine at this stage. Repeated calls for growth are just that, repeated calls, for growth is nothing but a word devoid of all meaning. The fiscal side of economic policy, involving government spending, is pure fiction at this stage. All that remains is the monetary side, involving central banks’ trickery and vague ideas of a banking union. The conundrum is reminiscent of the old Zen koan: what is the sound of one hand clapping? For an answer worth remembering, listen to Europe today. The sound of shares rising for no rhyme or reason.