Today in the European Crisis

The Greek government is having trouble complying with demands for information from the European Union because all the workers in its National Statistical Bureau are on strike.

I realize nobody cares what American archaeologists think about the finances of the EU, but I am going to say my piece anyway. The Euro never made sense as an economic measure. It made sense only as a way to force greater integration of the EU. Seventeen independent countries can't share one currency. The architects of the Euro probably hoped they would get more time for everyone to adjust to the idea of being European citizens before they had to confront a crisis like this one. But life isn't like that. Europe faces a choice: integrate their fiscal policies and issue common bonds, which pretty much means giving up national independence, or dissolve the Euro. Since most European voters don't seem to want to give up national independence, they should dissolve the Euro. They would mean a year of two of chaos, but if they want national independence the only alternative is this unending crisis, from which they will never emerge.