December is coming

Wolfgang Munchau, the FT columnist, who has moved from pro-euro fanaticism to pronounced scepticism as reality has slowly dawned, now reckons the Eurozone has until 9th December to save itself, with a mixture of measures which essentially mean Germany guaranteeing everyone else.

9th December is the day of the big euro-summit, and on this day Croatia is set to join. Yes, whilst it must seem incredible that anyone wants to join this mess just as it is breaking up (the rules say new applicants must promise to adopt the euro), our unelected rulers are still pursuing their policy of enlarging and deepening. For the Croats, the Prime Minister, Jadranka Kosor, has said that the country is guaranteed to receive €3.5bn in subsidies in the first two years alone. We had to bribe them to come in.

Croatia's unemployment is at 14%, its external debt is more than 100% of GDP, the ruling party is likely to lose the election a few days before the accession deal is signed, and the government is riddled with corruption. The similarities with Greece are alarming for any normal person.

But none of this bothers the Euro-loonies. Quite unaware that there could be anything wrong with the euro-template, they proceed as if everything were normal.