Who cares who replaces Angela Merkel? But the likely inability of the ECB to address the consequences of monetary experimentation and inflation in coming years could cause Germany's coming generation of bland political nobodies to be superseded by something more populist and chaotic, creating all kinds of problems for Yoorp.

Calm… Small voice of calm.

Its early September and it feels like summer finally arrived here on the South Coast of Blighty. But it's already autumnal – the sky is a faded shade of blue, backberries are ripening, curlews are on the river, and the thin mist makes it indescribably beautiful.  It's a heartening change from the months of grey claggy skies that went before. I wish I'd brought my phone so I could have photographed the scene as puppy-dog took me for my early morning perambulation.