Time to ditch the crystal ball

As 2011 draws to a close, it would be nice to report on some sort of conclusion to the eurozone crisis.

The state of alarm has been dragging on for months on end, with any new measures by Europe’s leaders so far proving ineffectual in the battle to calm investors’ nerves. Their latest efforts were also greeted with a muted response by markets and the issue of where the UK now stands in relation to Europe threatens to dominate the political agenda well into 2012 and beyond. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg warned Cameron’s veto of EU treaty changes was “bad for Britain” and could leave it “isolated and marginalised”. In his defence, Cameron said he had acted to protect the UK, especially i...