Well, what of Wim Duisenberg, a man accumulating unfavourable monikers faster than the euro is plumbing new depths. He may be simply unfortunate that his is the latest and, to date, most damaging verbal intervention in the euro debate.

The one thing the markets crave is guidance on future direction. After all, money is made or lost by betting against the future direction of any market, be it in equities, bonds or currencies. Hinting strongly, as Mr Duisenberg did, that a second round of intervention was extremely unlikely in the short term simply allowed the players in the market to bet against the currency knowing they could not lose.

You have to feel some sympathy for the beleaguered ECB chief. On the one hand, he has been continually criticised for sending confusing signals to the market on euro policy and thereby undermining its value; now he is damned for sending the clearest of signals.