Olli Rehn bosses George Osborne around

Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner who is in charge of economic affairs, called in the Brussels press corps this afternoon to announce the conclusion of his ‘in-depth review of the macroeconomic imbalances in 13 member states.’ I sat through the launch, and the questions and answers, noting that at no time did Rehn or any of the reporters approach the fundamental question: what exactly is a macroeconomic imbalance and why do we think that Rehn – whose full title includes European Commissioner for the Euro – is the man anyone would trust with analysis of anything macroeconomic?

And before you ask, the reason I didn’t ask is that I ration any questions that I know the spokesmen who run these press conferences will consider obnoxious. I have to deal with these people long term.

Still, I could have pointed out that the corpses of what were once red-blooded European countries are now piled up and oozing around Rehn’s desk.