Is it possible to have a monetary union without a political union? This remains a question without a definitive answer. But there is another, more immediate concern. It is whether a currency union can work in countries without a flexible market economy. On this, current European rhetoric and performance begin to raise disturbing doubts.

In France, the debate in the referendum on the European constitution is merely over whether a Oui or a Non would do more to defeat the plague of "Anglo-Saxon ultraliberalism". In Germany, Franz Münterfering, the SPD's chairman, is indulging in a bout of anti-capitalism redolent of Argentine politicians at their most populist. All these short-sighted politicians forget that the creation of an integrated market economy has long been one of the goals of the European project.