When British politicians claim their actions have global significance I usually turn to the American quality press for a sense of perspective. Granted, the land of the free can be atrociously inward looking, but this from the Boston Globe certainly casts Gordon Brown’s stroke of genius in a new light. In Massachusetts his ‘unprecedented global action’ (the Guardian) is reduced to a short story about the impact on an American subsidiary of a British bank. “Oh would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us,” wrote Robert Burns. It is a gift good journalists need. It reinforces the scepticism required for excellent reporting.