There’s an old saying in the markets – it doesn’t matter whether you are right, you also have to stay solvent long enough to be proved right. This is as true for policymakers and regulators as it is for traders and fund managers. After all, it is the solvency of whole countries, regions and the global economy that they are dicing with.

And yet regulators frequently ask their charges to do the right thing at exactly the wrong time. Examples of procyclical regulation - frequently highlighted by the banking lobby - are legion.