The euro crisis never seems to end. From an acute phase of worries about public debt and whether the single currency might break up it has moved on to a chronic condition of near-zero growth and fears of deflation. The signs are that the euro zone is now back in recession, with even the German economy, the central powerhouse, slowing sharply. And that is creating new pressure on Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, to borrow and spend more for the sake of Europe. Yet there is strong resistance to this inside Germany, led by "ordoliberal" economists such as Hans-Werner Sinn of Munich University and the CESifo Group, whose latest book, "The Euro Trap", sets out his rationale. Mr Sinn believes the European Central Bank has become too accommodating and that its plans to buy sovereign debt are illegal (the European Court of Justice has just heard arguments on this). He also reckons the euro-zone bail-outs of the past four years have created moral hazard, allowing feckless Mediterranean countries to get away with minimal reforms and only limited fiscal discipline.
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