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Greece is being pieced back together, financially at least. Next week, plans to slash its budget deficit are likely to be approved by fellow Europeans, and in return it will receive implied aid through various bank guarantees. German taxpayers, the most solvent in the eurozone, will be the ultimate backstop, although Brussels will pretend that the private banks are taking the strain. There will be legal challenges and German parliamentary rancour, alleging that the aid contravenes a ban on bail-outs of one member of the euro by others, but Greece will be more stable.

That won't be the end of the matter. For ordinary Greeks, out on strike and rioting again yesterday, the aggressive austerity measures are likely to mean years of soul-sapping ...