A year is gathering pace in which - after the previous twelve months - (virtually) everything would seem to be feasible: the outright bankruptcy of what were once highly regarded industrial countries, the anchoring in Germany’s Basic Law of the principle of combating high debts with crippling debts, the downgrading of the central banks to junk status, and the enthronement of Angela Merkel as empress of the European Union. Rather too much excitement of late, don’t you think?

Clemens Doriat