What do the price of oil, the England football manager and the UK Home Secretary have in common? All have been subject to an unwarranted degree of media attention because August is a thin month for news. Judging by the coverage the oil market has received, it would be easy to conclude that the rising price is solely responsible for an impending global economic crisis.

A year ago in this column I wrote there was "little need to fasten one's seatbelts". In retrospect, while there was some truth to this prognosis, it depended on where you were driving.