It was a monetary union that unified financial markets but provided none of the institutions of governance required for a banking union. If there was one urgent reason why Europe truly did need a fiscal constitution it was to provide the financial underpinning for a giant deposit insurance and bailout fund. In the late 1990s, as European Monetary Union approached, Larry Summers had the temerity to ask an international gathering of financial experts: “Could the Europeans here explain to me what happens if a bank in Spain gets into serious trouble? What are the respective responsibilities of
