The rock-solid “hard-line” leaders of France and the Netherlands were exposed as mere sandcastles, next in line to be swept away by the eurozone’s economic woes. Eight days ago, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte was deposed. A day later, France’s Nicolas Sarkozy, one half of the eurozone’s twin-engine, lost the first round of the presidential race. The other half, Germany’s iron chancellor, Angela Merkel, remained above water – but only as a dangerously isolated island. The markets lurched in horror at the apparition of the deadly seventh wave of contagion. But the real shock was that this time the force wasn’t ... (full story)