On your Mark's

The Euro, love it or as most of us do ignore it has a poor history, supposedly one of the flagship marques of the European Union it was an artificial currency that took no notice of regional economies as it did not have anything like the checks and balances built in to alleviate regional differences that its so called rival the US Dollar does.
Still, with the current difficulties it faces with the Southern Mediterranean states (and Ireland) the possibility of a Greek default on their loans, you'd have suspected that it would have been one of those states who would eventually be the first to leave the Euro. and that the Euro bolstered by the more stable Northern EU economies would survive.

Express.

ALMOST three-quarters of Germans doubt that the euro has a future, a poll reveals.
They also believe rescue attempts are futile as billions more euros will be paid to bail out Greece.
A poll by German newspaper, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, found 71 per cent had “doubt,” “no trust” or thought there is “no future” for the euro. Only 19 per cent expressed “confidence” in it.
Sixty eight per cent said they did not think the emergency bail out of Greece would work.
A separate poll last week showed more than half of Germans thought that Greece should be thrown out of the euro.
Rumours are also rife in Germany that Deutsche Mark bank notes are being printed again in preparation for ditching the euro.
It is said Germany’s central bank, the Bundesbank, has been ordered to print marks as part of contingency plans to leave Europe’s single currency.

Couple of years ago I'd have been gobsmacked by such an announcement, that was however until I noticed something a bit odd on my till receipts from my occasional booze cruises to France in that they all had the amount in Francs still printed on them, seems the only people who thought the Euro could work were the EUphiles and despite their claims, they still only form a minority of people throughout the EU, the rest being either highly hostile or mostly indifferent to the EU, just check out the percentage of votes cast in the EU elections, hardly a vote of confidence is it?
I expect the EU to move heaven and Earth to keep the Germans onboard, but Merkel is walking on a knife edge, elections are due and it's just possible that the opposition will force the German governments hand. If Germany leaves the Euro it will be the end of it, far more so than if Greece does.
We can dream.
Can we leave yet?