The Financial Times and others have reports of "Europe's leaders" and their New Year addresses, warning that 2012 "was likely to be tougher than 2011". Sarkozy says the gravest crisis Europe has faced since the second world war "is not over" and Merkel admits "next year will no doubt be more difficult than 2011".
Merkel adds: "The path to overcoming this won't be without setbacks, but at the end of this path, Europe will emerge stronger from the crisis than before".
The biggest dollop of BS, though, comes from Italy's Giorgio Napolitano, who tells his audience that, "Sacrifices are necessary to ensure the future of young people, it's our objective and a commitment we cannot avoid".
I do love these fully paid-up members of the political classes, collectively responsible for creating the mess of a lifetime then telling us that, in order to clean it up, "sacrifices are necessary" – while they are themselves living in the lap of luxury.
Yet it does seem to me that sacrifices are necessary ... the kind more familiar to the Aztecs. But forget the virgins … senior politicians sound a much better idea. There should be no limit to the number of sacrifices made here. One from each of the member states would do for a start. Nevertheless, others seem less bloodthirsty, although just as focused. The techniques are interesting.
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