The European leaders are preparing for yet another summit, where the good food will be served and the fine wine will be flowing. One loses count of how many summits there have been since the crisis began. They all promise to deliver the solution but usually end up with some weak worded document about fiscal integration and growth, which quickly descends into increasingly zealous statements about obedience to fiscal rules and monitoring and punishment frameworks and, if you will excuse me, the whole Spanish Inquisition thing! I don’t mean to malign the Spanish here. Rather just calling up historical patterns of behaviour that always end in pain and suffering. The latest signs are that the ECB is continuing to keep the whole boat from sinking while the Germans continue to claim they are the victims. The Euro leadership continues to be obsessed with rules. The financial markets continue to punish the whole setup. Another day in the European crisis. There is a collective denial operating at present and until facts are faced up to (which might require some humble (vegetarian) pie being eaten rather than what is probably on offer in Rome during the current summit) – nothing much is going to be achieved other than rising unemployment and social dislocation. This is truly a mad situation.