European political turmoil has, alas, displaced my promised column on US inequality. But President Jacques Chirac’s perhaps predictable surrender to the protesters, the results of the Italian election and last year’s election in Germany now combine to raise a compelling question: what are Europe’s prospects when the three continental giants are so politically weak? The simple answer is: “dire”.

Europe is much more than three countries. But Germany, France and Italy contribute just over two-thirds of the gross domestic product of the eurozone and just under half that of the 25-member European Union. They were the three dominant members of the original EU of six and its most influential promoters over the subsequent half-century.