A few years ago I was at a conference discussing the woes of the single European currency, when a central bank official reached into his pocket and flung a euro note on the table. “That’s what’s wrong with Europe,” he declared, pointing to the crumpled piece of paper. “It’s just windows and bridges!”

Waving the note, he went on to explain that when bureaucrats created the modern European monetary system, they did not want to spark a bitter, nationalist dispute about which faces to put on the notes. So they ducked the issue and decided to put architectural symbols, such as famous bridges, on the notes instead of famous people — fa?ades instead of faces.

To the casual observer, this might not seem to matter — not when compared with Europe’s other woes, such as the migrant crisis or its lingering economic problems. After all, most people never notice what’s on their banknotes, except when a political spat breaks out (as it has recently in the US over the lack of women on dollar bills).