For the past couple of months, I've been consuming a steady diet of op-ed pieces critical of the European Central Bank and the euro.

I'm keeping an open mind, but I have to wonder whether this is just so much salon talk. The reasons for my skepticism:

  1. A lot of opinion pieces critical of the euro seem to be running in the English press, outside the euro zone.
  2. Is this anything more than euroskepticism? Any European policy will have drawbacks as well as benefits. This is inherent in the project.
  3. What's so great about monetary autonomy? The euro had nothing to do with Iceland's tumble, or with the current situation of Central European countries.
  4. Diversity is a fact of life. It's true in Europe as it's true in the USA (witness the case of California). Common or coordinated policies will take account of different circumstances only imperfectly.