An orderly sale of Italy's state-owned industries and Greece's land holdings would take time, which is no longer available, so the immediate solution to the crisis is to place such hard assets in a euro-zone trust that would then issue euro-zone bonds backed by those assets.

ECONOMIST: Letters: On the euro zone, Irish banks, India, veterans, women, jobs, seasteading, Vladimir Putin | The

What made 2011 so toxic in the euro zone was the widespread breakdown in trust: Trust between governments, within governments and between governments and voters.

WSJ: 2012: Taking a Look on Bright Side

And enshrining limits on borrowing and debt levels in national constitutions doesn't seem a bad way of restoring trust in the financial management of euro-zone governments, which don't have a great deal of credibility left.

WSJ: Odds Stacked Against Latest EU Pact

The fragments served as signposts for Richard Preston, the best-selling author of the nonfiction book "The Hot Zone, " who was brought in by the Michael Crichton Trust to finish the partially written manuscript.

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The euro's rise, Germany says, indicates that trust is being restored in the currency as progress is made toward overcoming the euro zone's sovereign-debt crisis.

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Euro-zone leaders should make it their New Year's resolution to earn back the trust of electorates and peers.

WSJ: 2012: Taking a Look on Bright Side