The politics around the failed merger of Alstom-Siemens, rather than the current debate over Microsoft and Activision, may explain why.

“Wanted: A chief economist for the European Union’s top competition regulator. Must be good at their job, but more importantly get along with the likes of Emmanuel Macron at a time when Paris and Berlin want to see bigger EU corporate champions. Oh, and please ... No Americans.”

That may not be exactly how the European Commission’s next trust-busting job ad will read. But after this week’s fiasco surrounding the failed appointment of a US economist, which drew rebukes all the way up to the French head of state, that’s the subtext that will be lost on nobody. Least of all Fiona Scott Morton, the Yale economics professor who turned down the role a few days ago, saying the backlash made it impossible. “It became clear that my work at the Commission would be compromised over this political fight over nationality,” she told me. “I have no desire to be mixed up in European politics.”