In the beginning, in 1951, was the European Coal and Steel Community, which begat the European Economic Community, which begat the European Union, and which led, in 1999, to what seemed at the time the promised land of the eurozone. Here, for the 11 participating countries (five more have been added since then), was an apparent world of centrally subsidised milk and honey, where they would share a single currency, and benefit from the economies of scale. And, lo, the milk and honey flowed.

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