itself up even into a temporary file. After trying everything I know, I got my tech consultants online to see if they could figure it out. Nothing. So there was nothing to do but to start over. Let that be a lesson to you, boys and girls. Always save your work – early and often.
Thinking back on Italy, one of the more interesting parts of the tour last Sunday through Rome was visiting the Church of St. Ignazio. It is an early Jesuit cathedral, evidently built before they had all the money in the world. As they were getting to the end of construction, they ran out of dough before they could build the dome. In stepped Brother Andrea Pozzo, an enterprising priest who said, “You want a dome? I’ll give you a dome.” Unfortunately he was not an architect but an artist. So rather than building a dome he painted one. And so we have one of the most remarkable pieces of perspective art anywhere in the world.
From the center of the church looking upward, you see this perfectly shaped oval dome structure, full of marvelous paintings and lighting. Except that when you walk around under the “dome,” you clearly start to see that you aren’t looking at a real dome at all, but a painted picture of a dome. I walked back and forth several times trying to come to terms with the fabulous grasp of perspective that it took to be able to create such a massive architectural artwork.
As I thought about it later that night, it occurred to me that the painting is a marvelous visual representation of the euro. If you don’t get too close, it actually looks like a currency. At some point, the members of the Eurozone are going to have to actually create the sort of fiscal union that is required for any successful monetary union. If they don’t, the illusion of their currency is going to break down as we get closer to the next crisis. Which is why I’m paying attention to France.
Let’s close this letter with a little bit of idle speculation. At the end of the day, I wonder whether France, when confronted with a crisis as I think they will be, will really elect National Front leader Marine Le Pen and let her take them out of the Eurozone. While there may be a complete rejection of the Socialist Party after the miserable performance Hollande is giving, could not the right conservative take second place in the first election and then win in the final? And who might that be? It will be interesting to see what Christine Lagarde does after a few more years as head of the IMF. Silly speculation, I know. But isn’t European politics fun?
Have a great week. I have planned my travels perfectly to be in Texas in July and August. But Texas is why God invented air conditioning.
Your saving his work analyst,
John Mauldin
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