'The eurozone shambles has been the worst setback for European integration since the 1940s'

The over-generous Italian welfare state means that for all the belt-tightening, most people in the country still enjoy la dolce vita

‘The government has sensibly decided to give back to the Bank of England its old job of regulator. But a clutter of extra institutions and committees is being proposed, none of which is the real boss’

The boom years lasted so long that writers and artists lost their nose for trouble