The debate should not be about the Euro! (The Euro)

Member Name: rmay666

Product:	The Euro
Date:	24/02/02 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Harmonised markets

Disadvantages: Just as bad as the pound

When people on both the left and right talk about 'The Euro' they are both using (Or should that be abusing!) the issue of a single european currency as the way of levering political advantage.

The Economic Arguments for or against a single currency are to be honest laughable. The Euro will for the most part act in exactly the same way as the Pound,the USD and any other currency you wish to think of.THERE WILL BE NO EXTRA SECURITY PROVIDED BY A SINGLE CURRENCY.

The single currency will still be at the control of the banks. No currency can escape the control of the men who set interest rates and who help governments with loans when they go over their expenditure limits and start to run into trouble.The talk of Euro become a 'hard currency' rival to the American Dollar is premature. It could be argued that the USD is probably going to be the last 'hard currency' with the possible rise of the Euro and the certain rise of China as world economic powerhouse it may end up with too much strain being placed on currencies to the point that a 'levelling' of currency rates and thus the end of 'hard currency'.

Currency has in the past been fluctuating, such is the state of the world trade cycle, and so a single European Currency will complete one of two things. Either the currency will fluctuate at a greater rate whilst there is a 'harmonisation' between the Nation states domestic structures or the currency will establish itself into the worl arena as a formidible currency.

If the European Currency is to succeed then it need to first acheive 'harmonisation' between the co-operative nation states. Remember that the markets which used to exist in European were designed to compete with each other and so a major restructuring of the western economies would first be needed. In effect the underlying factor in any market economy would first have to be tamed.

Yet it still all comes back
to the banks. Banks now run economies. To talk about Governments running an economy is folly. No government will ever have control over what goe's on in their nation and none have since organisations like the World Trade Organisation can force Nation States to either take in trade from other places or face sanctions.

The most telling example of this was the loan the United Kingdom borrowed from the International Monetary Fund back in under the Callaghan government. The Labour government of the time was forced to change their whole economic policy before the I.M.F would give any help. No-one was worried about 'loss of sovereignty' then!

The next argument put forward is the 'loss of economic sovereignty'. Since when did a nation state have full economic control over their domestic markets. Even regimes in the USSR and PRC had eventually to give into world pressure. The main flaw in their argument is that no nation has ever had full economic control over their markets.

Many talk about 'soveriegnty' and yet most don't know what it is or where it is meant to reside. If Parliament is sovereign then why is it controlled by the Executive? If the Crown is meant to be sovereign then why has the Prime Minister got most of the powers?

The fact is that 'Sovereignty' is a myth. No-one truely knows where it has ever really resided. We talk about the nation state being sovereign but what gives it this sovereignty? Scotland is a nation state which now has its own assembly yet it is not sovereign.

This brings me to my next point. Recently there has been alot of press about the 'Metric Martyrs'. If we really take this whole thing apart we can really see the crass propaganda which is put forward by the Tabloid press who have their own agenda.

The law in question which is being disputed IS NOT about having to have everything in Metric rather then Imperial. What it asks shopkeepers to
do is to list their goods in Metric AS WELL AS Imperial.

The reason why this has all been blown out of proportion is partially newspapers following their own agendas and also the incompetence of some trading standards officials.

The main reason why these people have been taken to court and prosecuted is because they have refused to deal in Metric at all. If someone comes into their shops and asks from something in Imperial measurement then the shopkeeper can happily serve them. They have refused, they have broken the law and thus are prosecuted.

The best thing about sovereignty is that you can combine it with others to get what is best.Trying to live in isolation will eventually only lead to a greater decline in any influence anywhere. If the U.K's destiny lies with the Euro then only the people of the UK can decide. If the UK's future lies somewhere else then the people of the UK must decide quickly before it is too late.

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