“WHO NEEDS THE EURO?” (July 18, 2012)

Thus The Wall Street Journal today. “As Europe’s debt crisis rages on,” the newspaper continues, “many Germans are indulging their nostalgia for the abandoned mark by shopping with it again—and retailers are happily going along.” The number of Germans paying in Deutsch marks is sure to grow, though. Whether they are indulging their nostalgia or not is a moot point, for it is Germany than now holds the eurozone together. France has been sidelined already. Italy is nowhere in sight, anyhow. One way or another, the support for countries clamoring for a bailout is waning in the flagship economy of the European Union. But nostalgias will surely grow in number and fervor. It is hard to imagine German voters accepting the loss of national sovereignty to some institution in Brussels, of all places. One can well imagine another title sprouting soon in the same newspaper: “Who needs the fiscal union?”