Mr Draghi, then, is not going to stand in the front line wielding the ECB's big bazooka. But if others man the trenches, he will provide artillery support from the rear to avert a catastrophe. Mr Draghi himself uses a different image: the response to the crisis has to stand on “two legs”. ECB action without reforms would be ineffective. But he also acknowledges that reforms by governments are taking too long to bear fruit and need to be supported by the ECB.

Mr Draghi justifies his action with the argument that high yields faced by southern European governments are not only the product of a higher credit risk, but also the result of markets' “unfounded” fear that the euro would break up