There is no case for joining the Euro (The Euro)

Member Name: fact man

Product:	The Euro
Date:	16/08/00 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: It could lead to WW III

Based on opinions in this group the case for the Euro seems to rest on the fact that it would removes exchange rate uncertainty. This is a red herring! It would remove exchange rate uncertainty for only those companies that inport and export soley from the European Union. It would do nothing for the trade with the rest of the world or for the vast majority of industry & services that are produced and consumed within the domestic market.

True - some uncertainty would be removed but the strength or morelikely the weakness of the Euro would increase the unceratinty of trading with the rest of the world.

Exchange rates move for a reason they act as a pressure valve to prevent the build up of economic pressures. The removal of excahnge rates removes this valve and such pressures would need to be managed by other measures such as the redistribution of wealth between member states - we see it now where even a small economy like the UK can not set an ideal interest rate level - it is a best fit so we have a booming South and a fairly depressed North - In the 1980's this problem was addressed by the redistribution of wealth from the South to the North via the welfare system and other forms of industrial aid. It was by doing this society was maintained and serious social disorder prevented (although there were some riots). What we basically had was Southern tax payers paying for redundant northern miners etc. It was accepted because of the strong sence of nationhood - I feer that the same would not be true in the European Union. Would the French Taxpayers happily transfer their wealth to another nation? Would a nation (with a strong national identity) sit back and live on handouts? I think not at best the most talented people would migrate to the prosporous area (as happens now between the North & South) Those without such skills would be left behind on European Welfare and the areas would get even more uncompetitive. (It is interesting that these are
the very people that the Labour Party is supposed to be representing!) The worst case scenario is that the strong sence of national identity and pride would lead to calls in poor (or possibly rich) regions to break away as they would be better of outside the union - at this point there would be no democratic method to allow this (just as Mersyside could not break away from the United Kingdom - even if it wanted to!) This would raise the potential for conflict as group - bound by a strong identity but no redress democratically - would resort to violence as we already have in Spain, Northern Ireland & Italy.

For the sake of our peaceful future we should not join the EMU it would be the start of a one way road to a singlr European State and there is no political will in the ordinary people for this in Britain.

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