Should we have joined the Euro?

[kwicky]

We have had the good times. Now with a huge balance of payments, an imminent depression, a run on the banks and people straddled with �billions of debt, should we have joined the Euro when things looked a lot rosier? A distinct run on the pound now seems highly likely and we will all be poorer for the result!

[Gromit]

We still can join whenever we want to, we can easily meet the criteria. There is no evidence that the decision not to join the single currency has done the UK economy any good at all. In world markets, the Euro is a very strong and robust currency. With the US Dollar at an all time low, it will be interesting to see if the oil producing nations decide to trade in Euros instead of Dollars in future. If that occurs, it would be madness for the UK to stay out of the Eurozone.

[Loosehead]

No, just because it looks rosy at the moment doesn't mean it will allways. Don't forget that it has only recently reached the same value it was against the pound at launch in 1999. The currency was not based on economic logic but political expediency. It has survived ok so far but there hasn't really been a test.

I do not deny that it would be convenient for a lot of things but I would rather not give fiscal control to a load of unlelected Eurocrats just because it looks ok at the moment.

[gouda]

Try to stay out of t,he Euro as long as is possible.
Here in the Netherlands the cost of living rose by 9% when we joined.The eec was a good idea in its early stages, but has now become too large, a vast gravy train for an ever expanding number of Politicians.Accounts have not been audited for over a decade, and as countries outside of Europe queue to join, the situation will only worsen.
Ask yourself, do you really want to be ruled by Brussels?

[anotheoldgit]

Ask yourself, do you really want to be ruled by Brussels?

What we should ask ourselves, is do we want to be ruled by the present bunch of Anti-British politicians that we now have in Westminster?

[brionon]

What is a Brussels and how would it rule us ? Are you on about Sprouts ? As the British parliament is in London ,do you think you are Ruled by London? How can a smallish city in belgium rule you ? Are you ,perhaps making a joke ?

[kwicky]

Personally its not the Brussels Eurocrats I distrust but the incompetence of British politicians and that includes the Tories. Our recent history is lined with co*ckups made by our ruling elite. In Harold Wilson's day we had devaluation where the pound in your pocket was unaffected (unless you bought foreign goods), then we had John Major's ERM fiasco where we lost �billions. And more recently the Northern Rock mishandling.
The Euro is now a stable currency and like the gold standard of yesteryear will emerge as the world currency standard and yet we will remain trying to hang on the coat-tails of this successful cuurency. FOR HOW LONG I WONDER!

[jno]

the value of currencies can go down as well as up. The dollar has had a long run as the currency of choice because the rest of the world believed it was backed by American economic strength, so they ought it for their reserves. For various reasons, they're not so sure now. The European Central Bank, which manages the euro, has a fairly strict policy about managing inflation. But it doesn't have any authority over the individual countries that use the euro. France in particular is making noises about wanting the bank to loosen its rules to let countries (ie France itself) do their own thing a bit more. I think this would be bad for the currency - but there's nothing to actually stop Sarkozy breaking the EUs fiscal rules if he wants to. A lot depends on consensus. The USA has had this consensus for generations; you don't hear Idaho saying it wants to run up a big deficit. But Europe is still made up of selfish nation states. So the euro's long-term success isn't guaranteed.

[Loosehead]

There in lies the problem jno. The ECB does not have the control it needs over the member states to do the job properly. Selfish actions by member states especially the big ones can cause huge problems.

It's well know that I am against the common currency but it is not so well known that one major reason why is that it's been done wrong. If we are going to have a common currency then sorry all the member states have got to give up their own central banks. They won't do that so the whole thing is flawed.

It's fine at the moment but what about if a major state decides it needs to head in a different direction to the others? It's like having a bus with multiple drivers!

[kwicky]

With all its wealth the USAs finances are in a dire state. Even so the � is now losing contact with the $ and can only but slide when the full facts are known about the British economy and especially the trade surplus. Belonging to the Euro would at least give us some support. We are going to pay for this stubborness.

[kwicky]

A bus with multiple drivers...? There is such a thing as consensus and its in everyones interest the currency is stable. For 10 years this has kept the Euro as a dominent currency and will in future.

[kwicky]

Maybe we should re-visit the arguments, for and against, made some years ago, for joining the Euro. Hindsight is a wonderful thing so we should use it.

http://cep.lse.ac.uk/layard/RL334D.pdf

[Loosehead]

Listen if the France or Germany need to move a certain way fiscally they won't give a sh1t what it does elsewhere. The small countries could find themselves in serious cack with no way out. Very nearly happenned in Ireland when their economy was overheating and the they had no way to stop it. Consensus is fine but when the chips are down you can bet the individual contries will do what's best for them and pull up the ladder. Wait till there's a crisis then see what happens.

[kwicky]

If I was a neutral and a country like Britain distrusted me so badly I would tell them where to sling their hook. De Gaulle after our pontifications refused to allow us to enter the Common Market, the treaties are always looked down upon and we need special exemptions, we had rows over the agricultural policy and to cap it all refused to join the Euro. Get lost all the little Englanders is what i'd say and with good reason.!