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The Single Currency
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Replacing the £ with the Euro.
Good idea or bad idea?
Personnally, I think it's good. It makes it a lot easier to compare prices for things like cars, property, pay, cost of living and so on within the European Community, which should give consumers more power and choice.
The only drawback I can see is losing the picture of the Queen's head on our currency, but that doesn't matter to me in the least. I figure just because I was born here doesn't mean I owe her any favours, so why worry about a small thing like that?
Businesses say it will be their ruin (but that depends on what sector they are in, any of you lot studying economics?). But then businesses have been saying that about lots of things since the time when trading first started thousands of years ago.
Having a single language makes sense, which is why a lot of schools in the world have English on their curriculae as a compulsory subject, including ours, so why not a single currency too?
In the long run, I feel that a single currency will be a good thing. Changing over will bring problems, but all of those can be overcome in the short term. So I reckon we should go for it.
FantasyMeister
Good idea or bad idea?
Personnally, I think it's good. It makes it a lot easier to compare prices for things like cars, property, pay, cost of living and so on within the European Community, which should give consumers more power and choice.
The only drawback I can see is losing the picture of the Queen's head on our currency, but that doesn't matter to me in the least. I figure just because I was born here doesn't mean I owe her any favours, so why worry about a small thing like that?
Businesses say it will be their ruin (but that depends on what sector they are in, any of you lot studying economics?). But then businesses have been saying that about lots of things since the time when trading first started thousands of years ago.
Having a single language makes sense, which is why a lot of schools in the world have English on their curriculae as a compulsory subject, including ours, so why not a single currency too?
In the long run, I feel that a single currency will be a good thing. Changing over will bring problems, but all of those can be overcome in the short term. So I reckon we should go for it.
FantasyMeister
0
Comments
It could take away the individuality of certain countries, maybe causing controversy over patriarchal issues.
However, it could bring countries together and lesser the poverty gap.
SHIT! I dropped politics so I'm no expert!
I live in Switzerland, I should say first off. And as many of you will know, Switzerland is not in the EU, and is not taking part in the single currency. But that's not the question, it's just an aside.
About the impact on Britain. Trade will increase because of a weaker currency. At the moment, the pound is too strong and is turning away many possibly traders. Because of this strength, investors are also being put off...there is general feeling in the City that the pound is gonna have to weaken sometime soon. The Euro is a great way to do this without the loss of confidence that goes with a weakening currency.
Business and their ruin. Hmm...an interesting load of tripe. What they are afraid of is that because of the Euro's poor performance, if Britain adopts the currency then investors will lose confidence during the change-over period. This will cause a massive drop in share prices and many companies will be hit hard. From an over-all perspective, it is quite possible that the growth of the economy, measured in % change in GDP, will decrease or possibly the economy will shrink.
The dangers here are that investors do not regain confidence soon enough and Britain and the Euro zone is caught in a recession (and then a depression), only a few years after the adoption of a new currency. Not a good thing by anyone's standards.
My personal opinion is that Blair is doing a good thing in setting economic goals that must be met before Britain joins the Euro. But I think that may be these goals need to be marginally more attainable.
We've heard all the side, and in a vote it is going to come down to those who are extremely patriotic and refuse to give up an identifying symbol of their nation; those who understand the economics and find it will work in their benefit and then there will be everyone else ie who don't understand the economics, who's benefit it doesn't help and who are Europhiles. It is this last (last three anyway) categories that the politicians need to focus on.
I don't live to work, I work to live and I live at the weekends. I'm the last of the big time drinkers.
"Is sex dirty? Only if its done right."
- Woody Allen
Like everything else in economics, you have to make a trade off. A strong currency will boost investment, but decrease exports and imports. The pound is fine for trading with the US, who also (at the moment, i may stress) have a strong economy and currency. But the US is only so much. You need Europe, no matter how much you don't want it.
You'd be better off joining the EMU sooner or later. But you can't hold out forever. Not even Switzerland can hold out forever.
Cos i'm thinking about a brand new hope, one i've never known, and where it goes, cos now I know it's all that wanted.
Hehe ok there it is, i asked her if i should be ashamed to post this and she said
My mum is posh and has some very good jobs in banking the NHS and something to do with magistrates shes not stupid n she knows what shes talking about so <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/tongue.gif">
[This message has been edited by Spirit II (edited 28-02-2001).]
i know wot she means bout exposin inequalities in europe and it wud b 4 the better, but its so much hassle to change it all.
Im a lazy **** <IMG alt="image" SRC="http://www.thesite.org/ubb/wink.gif">
If the sky that we look upon
should tumble and fall
or the mountains should crumble in the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry,
No, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me
Those are exactly the reasons why GB has to change.
Cos i'm thinking about a brand new hope, one i've never known, and where it goes, cos now I know it's all that wanted.
For too long we have relied on the US for help and support. But why?
The single currency will help strengthen our ties with Europe. I am in no way advocating that they dictate our laws or internal affairs, but we do far more trade with Europe than we ever have and ever will with America, this will only increase with joining the single currency.
The only benefits British consumers have from the Pound at the moment are getting lots of foreign money for when they go away.
No country to die for, as lenon said
For joining the Euro and a European state:
1. It would increase co-operation with our European neighbours. - there would no longer be any need to change money to go into France, Germany etc.
2. The weaker currency would be good for business - cheaper exports etc.
3. It would be one step closer to a fully-integrated Europe - just one country.
Against joining a full European state:
1. The pound is a strong, established currency, the Euro has been in existence for 2-3 years.
2. The language barrier - what is going to be the official language in the European Union? English, French, German?
3. If this is to be a full European state, does that mean that we will get the same price commodities, petrol etc. as our European neighbours?
4. Patriotism - well, we have a large population who would die than join the Euro or a European state.
5. The fact that the British stereotypically do not like the French or Spanish.
6. Common policies - is it viable to pay a Romanian worker the same minimum wage as a British worker (I know the perfect situation would allow the answer to be yes, but just look at the GDP of Eastern European countries...). Also, what about policies that may be conflicting in different countries, topics such as suffrage?
Well, what are your answers to these points?
Incidently, and this is nothing to do with national pride, I find it sick that 60 million people died not so long ago as a result of germanies desire to concur europe, well, the day after we join the single currency we'll have a GERMAN PM!!! To anyone who thinks this is a ridiculous attitude, you should be ashamed.
Hey asshole, when you join the site it's really not good form to start insulting people you don't know.
We expect other users to respect our opinions even if they vehmently disagree with them. If you can't accept that idea then don't bother posting.
A good bit of netiquette is to introduce yourself in Anything Goes.
Also, not a good idea to drag up old posts. People get pretty upset if you do that, it's better to start a new thread if you have something to say. If no-one has used a thread for more that a couple of weeks we tend to assume it's dead.
Anyway, guess you will be welcome to thesite. It's a nice place with nice people, stay a while (copyright CALVIN 2001) and try not to piss everyone off
"He's just a pimp, with a limp and some vaseline""
I agree with you, I dont really want to join the single currency, and it is to do with national pride. We have used the pound for hundreds of years, yes I know we had decimalisation, but we still kept the pound through it all. Just because the French and Germans have no faith in their currencies and feel that their countries can be improved by joining a single currency doesnt mean ours can. They have no right to force it upon us, which they are clearly trying to do. I know Turtle is gonna say something, but when is switzerland going to join? Or is it going to sit on the fence like it has done for most of history?
Spot on. Why do other people in other countries keep telling us what we should do with our currency. It is down to the British peopole themselves. No disrespect to Turtle though I mean the French and Germans. It seems toi me they want us to join for their benifit and not for the benifit of Europe as a whole.
I believe the British have always been more independant thane the rest of Europ. Maybe it's because were an island.
As a country we also have a deep problem with the French. The last hundred years have been quite quiet but the French and English have been fighting wars against each other for centurys. We just don't get on.
Forwards ever, Backwards never - Skive
National (and increasingly the global) economies are invariably cyclical. They have their high points as well as troughs. What governments can do as a short term measure is attempt to manage excess demand through the raising of interest rates. At the time of writing this paper, Britain is at the high point of its economy; there are significant labour shortages in the south in even unskilled labour. This is starting to manifest itself in wage inflation and the Bank of England has raised interest rates over the past year. By raising interest rates, the Bank of England is attempting to dampen the demand for resources which are becoming increasingly scarce so as to avoid further pressure on prices. By raising interest rates, consumers have a bit less real disposable income after allowing for higher mortgage repayments and businesses have less profit with which to raise wages. This is supposed to reduce demand hopefully keeping down prices. Similarly, at the bottom of the cycle, interest rates need to be lower so as to encourage demand to help the economy move forward.
The importance of being able to manage interest rates locally should not be underestimated. Once Britain came out of the ERM (in reality EMU with an exit option) in 1992, the economy immediately started to improve. Conversely, with labour and some other shortages developing in 1997 and 1998, it has become necessary to raise interest rates to curtail inflation.
If we are to join EMU, that fine tuning mechanism is lost. Interest rates are specific to a currency. You cannot have one interest rate for London and another for Scotland so long as the two are in a single currency area. If effective interest rates were, say 5% in Scotland and 9% in London, all the people that had money to invest would want to put it in London for the better return while all the borrowers would want to borrow in Scotland as the costs would be lower. Soon, there would be no money to borrow in Scotland while there would be a big surplus of money in London. The result would be that with a lack of borrowers in London, there would be no need for the money and interest rates would fall until there was a balance between the demand and supply of money in London. Similarly, as there would be a huge demand for money in Scotland but not enough of it, interest rates would have to rise until there was a balance in the supply and demand for money in Scotland. Ultimately, the level of interest rates would be the same in Scotland as in London.
Why does the same not hold true for different currencies? The answer is that the element of risk is involved. Right now, borrowers could obtain financing in Germany in Deutsche Marks at a rate much lower than in Britain. What happens in the event, however, between borrowing and repaying the loan the value of the Pound falls relative to the Deutsche Mark? The debt outstanding has risen in terms of Sterling and the real cost of borrowing is much greater. The recent spate of bankruptcies in Indonesia, while caused by the economic collapse of the country, were exacerbated by borrowing in US Dollars to get the benefit of a lower rate while earning money in Indonesian Ruppiah. When the exchange rate fell through the floor, repayment of debts became impossible.
back in the day when my parents voted for the EU it was only for trade not this single currency. so the people need to be asked what they want.
as I have already stated the reforendum will be fixed not just the question but the rules as well, for example somthing like over 50% of electrut(its late im stoned) for no verdic to be carried.
However my personal opinion is that we should stay well away from this must undemocratic europian socitiy, that we are being forced into.
I cant remember who said "we should look to our past if we want to see the future", but its true.
history tells us that europe is not a freind to the UK and never will be, I refer to both world wars as to where the loyalties of the french, spanish and italians are. as history also tells us about the germans from as far back as the roman empire.
this is not to mention that back in the last parlement gorden brown had to save the euro from colapse.
The US is our friend and should be treated as so. I did read in an earlier post that the pound and us dollar were strong but this is not the case they are stronger against the weeker euro, but in themselves are not all that.
one more small piont, i know when i'm on holiday because beer sells for spanish potatoes, french francs or danish krona not the same as I use in my local.
be awere change is not always for the better,make it a nessersery change.
I dont want to join the euro. I want to keep the pound.
The queens is important on coins and notes because it shows where we are. It shows our traditions and heritage.
They want one type of passport too with i disagree with. The crest on the front alsoo shows where we are. Replacing it with the euro logo i dont like it.
You dont know what else will happen in the near future.
Even if we do have the euro it wont change the fact that we will have the highest fuel prices in europe and high prices for everything else that we pay for.
For all we know in about 50 years from now they will ask all of europe to have the same language.
Suffering is everywhere. Don't think it isn't. So are miracles. Don't think they aren't.
What you want to keep are just SYMBOLS of your identity, but not your actual identity. You would still be English, British, Scottish, Welsh etc.
I am anti the POLITICAL changes, the loss of democracy that would come from the process. You can give me a euro to spend if it means that the interest rates are based on local issues and not what is happening in Greece this week.
I fear that we no longer live in a democratic society, but a capitalist one.
"He's just a pimp, with a limp and some vaseline""