But everywhere you see the rotting shells of the old ones. The Balkans and Bulgaria are beautiful. The idea that new Balkan prosperity could be built without Serbia, deprived of its markets, the transport routes across the country in chaos, was always a nonsense. Now there is a chance to do more but it needs big money. The economist Paul Krugman once said that one of the most important things an economist needs is an understanding of big numbers.
Billions seems a lot but in the world of international economics it is peanuts.
This is the problem with what is on offer to the Balkans. Look at Ireland as a comparison. Its population of a mere 3.5m has experienced a surge of growth as foreign direct investment, including a hefty dose of US high technology has poured in. But the total value of FDI in Ireland in 1999 was greater than all FDI in the Balkans, with its population of 50m, in the past decade. Moreover, in the Balkans, as elsewhere, the offers of aid and investment come with the usual injunctions that the market will do the trick.