On a lighter note, we say goodbye for the time being to our resident US banker, Herbie. Herbie first started writing home to Mom in 1969. A firm believer that friends are God's apology for relations, he has spent the last 28 years based in London, as far from his mother as possible, though every faithful month his letters home have kept her, and you, abreast of the latest financial happenings. In the process he has chronicled, mocked and satirized most of the key events in the life of the modern capital markets.
Herbie will be happy enough in today's turmoil. He remembers August 1969, when Euromoney argued against floating exchange rates and analyzed the development of the rouble. The only thing that has changed is that now, finally, he gets to go home.