After witnessing months of a rapidly de-generating global economic situation, policymakers from the Bank of England, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, the ECB, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank finally managed to come together to announce emergency measures to boost liquidity in the global economy.
All this really shows is that genuine fear has set in and as is most often the way in politics, the going must get tough before the politicians get going.
But this "co-ordinated central bank action to address pressures in global money markets" came even as the eurozone threat continues unabated; with still no agreement on how exactly the 17 member countries of the euro are going to address the problem.
The moves taken yesterday mirrored those prior to the 2008 financial crisis, whereby the penalty of 100bps banks previously had to pay on the overnight index swap rate were halved.
This swap line has been offered by the Fed to the Central Banks named above in an effort to prevent the financial system freezing up.
Bernanke the Knight?
It is the American way to play the dashing knight, selflessly risking himself for the greater good.
The truth is, however, the US knows as well as anyone that the constant drip feed of bad news, coupled with requirements of banks to deleverage at a rate of noughts, has dried up credit markets so severely that there is a risk of financial paralysis on a global scale.
Or to put it simply; a credit crunch.
We are not out of the woods yet though. The seriousness of the situation was highlighted by the steps taken by the People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Brazil to loosen monetary policy shortly after the announcement was made.
China and Brazil are hardly renowned for falling into line when it comes to working with developed countries on the global economic stage.
But both nations are clearly worried about the impact the eurozone crisis and slower global economic growth will have on their domestic economies.
The reduction of the Reserve Requirements Ratio of 50bps from China was the first time it had eased its monetary policy in three years, as it has been battling with inflationary pressures.
Brazil had already entered a loosening cycle, but the fact it acted in such close proximity to the other Central Banks is pertinent.
After an initial surge where all three US indices were up more than 4%, stocks across the pond have mirrored muted action from the FTSE 100 and European bourses today.
This indicates there is still plenty to do, so while the action from Central Banks gives markets some much welcome slack, fiscal progress by governments is what is truly required to win the war and not just the battle.
