The single currency has deprived its members of any independent control over monetary policy or the exchange rate, so the burden of any necessary response to a recession falls more on fiscal policy.
Even so, China could still introduce some flexibility into its exchange rate, and so regain control of monetary policy, by adopting a wider band or by pegging to a currency basket rather than just to the dollar.
Although those targets were rarely met, PolicyExchange says councils have used their new control over planning to drastically cut their own homebuilding targets.
But the sooner the public finances are brought under control, the sooner the country can afford a more flexible exchange-rate policy without risking a return to inflation.