Groucho marx quipped that he wouldn't want to belong to a club that would have him as a member. Slovenes may soon feel the same about their 2007 entry to the euro zone. Concern is growing that their country will be the sixth in the 17-strong union (after Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain) to need help. Any bail-out it required would be small change for the euro area's rescue funds. Slovenia has a population of only 2m and its output, worth €36 billion ($44 billion), is a barely discernible 0.4% of euro-wide gdp. Such a rescue would be no more than a glancing blow for the euro area, which has bigger things to worry about as it slides into recession (output was down by 0.2% in the second quarter and is expected to fall again in the third).
展开▼
