Central banks can do nothing more to insulate us from an Asian winter

The ECB's new tree sculpture offers an ironic counterpoint to the lack of growth in the world's second-biggest economy

The European Central Bank proudly announced on Friday that it is erecting a 17-metre-high bronze and granite tree outside its Frankfurt headquarters - an artwork intended to "convey a sense of stability and growth" - and, with its gilded leaves and massive trunk, presumably also wealth and power.

But when Mario Draghi, the ECB's president, appeared before the world's media on Thursday at his regular press conference, it was the limit to central bankers' power that was on display.

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