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It is doing well, I think it will be around quite a long while, longer than my life time.
However, my wife's relatives in Spain did not like it. The Euro made things much more expensive for them, not initially, but eventually the cost of staples doubled in many cases.
The difference between the Euro and the BSP also allowed many Brits the opportunity to come down to Spain and purchase up all the cheap real estate. What what was affordable is now out of reach for many, this drove the prices of real estate through the roof.
So, my wife's family does not care for it. I liked it because we did not have to constantly convert currencies when we used to flow from one country to another during our backpacking days.
Wouldn't it be great if the OP actually discussed his/her feelings about the Euro rather than just throwing out a subject and then watching the fur fly?
The financial crisis is proving that, for the moment, there safety in numbers that comes from joining one, big currency. Smaller countries have seen their economies collapse, and even the UK (a strongly adverse nation to the Euro), is now opening the debate once more on joining.
The chief complaints from governments during the euro's first 10 years have arisen from the bank's one-size-fits-all interest rate policy, which can't give rate cuts to individual countries if their economy dips while others rise.
The euro has soared in strength and value, rising to as high as US$1.6038 against the dollar this year. It's down to around $1.40, but has risen strongly against the British pound.
One of the other posters mentioned a Spanish perspective, which reflects a somewhat naïve understanding. Spain now has a monetary policy that it wouldn't have been capable of doing in the absence of the euro. Spain had a far greater tendency toward inflation and interests rates would be higher. Euro countries now are able to integrate finances with other foreign countries, which made it easier to invest abroad. Banks can operate on a wider scale, and people could buy shares more easily.
Some 15 million new jobs in the last six years have been created by making trade and travel easier through a single market. That has also invited more foreign investment, too. With the inclusion of Slovakia, the euro will be used by about 330 million people with a gross domestic product of more than euro4 trillion ($5.5 trillion).
Euro countries now enjoy a bigger and more efficient bond market with less risk of currency devaluations and inflation. Newer EU members such as Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic countries Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are in the process of meeting the conditions of joining the euro zone, but the crisis has put their hopes off for now.
When the debate fires up again in the UK, I hope that the true economic arguments are communicated clearly to the public, rather than the xenophobic rantings of Europe’s conservatives.
The financial crisis is proving that, for the moment, there safety in numbers that comes from joining one, big currency. Smaller countries have seen their economies collapse, and even the UK (a strongly adverse nation to the Euro), is now opening the debate once more on joining.
The chief complaints from governments during the euro's first 10 years have arisen from the bank's one-size-fits-all interest rate policy, which can't give rate cuts to individual countries if their economy dips while others rise.
The euro has soared in strength and value, rising to as high as US$1.6038 against the dollar this year. It's down to around $1.40, but has risen strongly against the British pound.
One of the other posters mentioned a Spanish perspective, which reflects a somewhat naïve understanding. Spain now has a monetary policy that it wouldn't have been capable of doing in the absence of the euro. Spain had a far greater tendency toward inflation and interests rates would be higher. Euro countries now are able to integrate finances with other foreign countries, which made it easier to invest abroad. Banks can operate on a wider scale, and people could buy shares more easily.
Some 15 million new jobs in the last six years have been created by making trade and travel easier through a single market. That has also invited more foreign investment, too. With the inclusion of Slovakia, the euro will be used by about 330 million people with a gross domestic product of more than euro4 trillion ($5.5 trillion).
Euro countries now enjoy a bigger and more efficient bond market with less risk of currency devaluations and inflation. Newer EU members such as Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic countries Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are in the process of meeting the conditions of joining the euro zone, but the crisis has put their hopes off for now.
When the debate fires up again in the UK, I hope that the true economic arguments are communicated clearly to the public, rather than the xenophobic rantings of Europe’s conservatives.
OK, I'll explain (as it seems I must ).
The numbers I posted were correct for the timeframe I was referencing.
The article you published was in March 2008 (almost a year ago), at which point the US economy was hemorrhaging, but the eurozone was yet to catch up. At that time, even the British per capita GDP surpassed the US's (when converting at the current exchange rate).
You will now find that the euro is back to 1.33 to the dollar (rather than the 1.60's at the time), and the pound fetching only $1.43 (rather than $2.02 in March last year).
Apart from palming off internet links (as if they are supposed to argue for you), you have managed to change the subject. My post was to the OP@s question about the euro. Whats your take?
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