For all its flaws, the euro zone’s gravitational pull is proving hard to resist. Croatia and Bulgaria became the latest countries to inch closer to the bloc when they got the green light on Friday to enter the so-called waiting room to join the single currency. They would be the 20th and 21st members; Romania, another former communist state, hopes to be the 22nd. Less than a quarter of century since it was created, the euro area has been repeatedly buffeted by financial meltdowns that could have easily shattered the entire project. Yet those episodes also spurred governments to allow the European Central Bank to ... (full story)