The Greek crisis only confirms the folly of binding a group of disparate countries together in a currency zone with no mechanism, such as a central fiscal authority, to address its internal imbalances.

ECONOMIST: Greece's sovereign-debt crunch

But the Treasury itself is constrained by the debt ceiling set by Congress, and an independent central bank should not rely on the fiscal authority for one of its tools.

ECONOMIST: Central banks' exit strategies

Considering the reluctance of German taxpayers to bail out other countries, more centralized fiscal authority a solution European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet publicly supported last week is probably not politically feasible.

WSJ: Troubles in Euro Zone Offer Chance to Fix Its Flaws