Some stories overshadow all others in importance – not many, but some. The threatened break-up of the euro is one. This week it was difficult to think of anything else. The world won’t end if European Monetary Union fails. But it will have shunted onto a different path.

Unfortunately, Economic Principals’ Ball Square offices, in Somerville, Massachusetts, are far from the action. It’s not possible to write from a distance about the political crisis in Greece, or the banking crisis in Spain. A couple of other approaches didn’t pan out.

On Sunday, EP finally found an appropriate way to add to the EMU story, thanks to a bulldog subscriber in Madrid – but not in time for today.  EP will return to the topic next week.