"Clearly the definitive abandonment of dependence on trees... has to count as one of the most radical shifts in adaptive zone ever made by any vertebrate since the very first tetrapod heaved itself out of water and on to terra firma, " he said.

BBC: Conflict and 'boom-bust' explain humans' rapid evolution

If that happens, only the most radical measures, or a euro-zone bail-out, will turn things around.

ECONOMIST: A successful bond issue provides only temporary respite

Yet nobody should get carried away by a hope that the euro zone is embarking on a radical new course.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne