Amazingly, you still wonder about the fate of the euro, and in your main leader (“Is This Really the End?” November 26, 2011). Yes, it is surely the end of the European Union’s single currency, which has never embraced the Union entire to make it a monetary union proper. And it is the end of the Union itself, which has never become even a club, with clear rules as to when to kick out an awkward member, let alone a common market or a customs union. About to split into a jumble of fragments, the Union is nothing but a pipedream concocted by a bunch of enthusiasts while the going was still smooth and no-one could foresee its final design. Last but not least, it is the end of economics as a science. It does not even approach engineering, of all things. As witnessed by a plethora of magic bullets on offer from economists of renown, it is but an art or at best a craft. And a poorly organized one at that. What remains to be done in expectation of the euro’s certain demise is to fathom its consequences. Even here, economics is of no practical value whatsoever. Once again, there will be magical bullets aplenty, each whizzing in a different direction. The debris of the bungled pipedream will be around for decades. If any economist guesses the best way through the wreckage, it will be purely by chance. Let us provisionally call him John Maynard Keynes II.