“Ring fence” is the new catch phrase we all need to become accustomed too. It is right up there with “shovel-ready” as a term of art spawned by the collapse of the global economy. The UK is prepared to ring-fence GBP 400 bln in assets on bank balance sheets, and the Geithner plan on Monday will contain a rather large ring fence as well, according to media reports. It remains to be seen how a guy who can’t figure out how to pay his personal employment taxes is cable of saving the devilishly complex US banking sector, but that is a story for an other day.