A prophecy from 1998: "The Euro comes too early"

Skybird · 02-09-10, 08:07 PM

Good points. I was willing to give it some good will when the Euro was launched, and at some time after the implementation it even seemed for a short while to be a thing that eventually could do some good, but I never was enthusiastic. But already before the economic crisis, I had changed my mind and oppose the Euro very much today.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225828483455

Quote:

George Bernard Shaw once said if all the world's economists were laid end to end, they would never reach a conclusion. So it was astonishing when in 1998 a group of 155 well-known German economics professors issued a joint declaration, titled The Euro Comes Too Early, pleading that the introduction of the euro be postponed.

What the article does not list is that some nationsk, especially Greece, had lied and betrayed to fulfill the access criterions for the euro. This was known in brussel back then. And it was ignored.

So what worth was this so-called Euro-stability-pact from the beginning on...???

bookworm_020 · 02-09-10, 11:06 PM

The Euro can still be saved. There would have to be some hard decisions made, and not all of them would be politicaly popular. If they can't fix this, then the euro dream is over.

TarJak · 02-09-10, 11:17 PM

Certainly looks like the poms had the right idea of being part of the union but not merging the currency.

Weigh-Man · 02-10-10, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TarJak

Certainly looks like the poms had the right idea of being part of the union but not merging the currency.

Yes, unfortunately we have a incompetent Prime Minister whose managed to completely screw our economy, regardless of the euro.

Skybird · 02-11-10, 08:36 AM

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...677214,00.html

Quote:

That makes five of 16 euro zone states where public finances are in a shambles -- enough to make the entire Continent uneasy. Investors fear that stable countries like Germany, Finland or the Netherlands could ultimately be affected; that they may be forced to pay for the financial errors of Greece and the others; that the euro will continue to drop against the dollar; and that the common currency will become a millstone around Europe's neck.

The threat to the euro is in no way merely a short-term one. Even if Italy and Spain avoid bankruptcy for the time being, what happens if the governments of those countries are too weak to push through the necessary reforms? Both Greece and Portugal have already been hit by serious protests as a result of budget cuts. But without much-needed reform, the gap between the strong and weak members of the euro zone threatens to get ever wider.

Star economist Nouriel Roubini, a professor at the Stern School of Business in New York, voiced fears at the Davos World Economic Forum that the common currency zone could even break apart. Not necessarily this year, or even next. But if the Continent is unable to get its deficits under control, the threat remains.

Skybird · 02-10-10, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bookworm_020

The Euro can still be saved.

Oh, it will be "saved" for sure, in the meaning of that like it'S introduction was no decision of reason but propagandistic politics and the desire to party over it. The Euro will be upheld in Europe, since giving it up would be a huge loss of face for the EU which is both narcissistic and self-loving, and craving for regulating things (shower heads are next!). Giving up the Euro would be admitting a huge mistake. But that is impossible, since Brussel is the shining centre of the universe, if you still haven't noticed it.

It's just that the price for keeping the Euro will grow higher and higher. And that some nations like Greece, Spain, Portugal will benefit from this silly sense of undeserved solidarity, while other nations like Germany and France will need to pay for it, more and more and more.

Wir ham's ja. In some years we will have a comparable hilarious load of debts like the US. All in the name of the Euro.

goldorak · 02-10-10, 07:31 AM

The introduction of the euro was a leap of faith.
A necessary milestone on the road to a truly unified political europe.
We either could have waited for a political process that was never in the coming and then press the issue of a unified currency, or the reverse.
The first road was just impossibile to achieve even to die hard conviced europeans. So the second road was chosen. First europe as an economic entity and then god willing a unified political entity (and this second goal requires as a prerequisite to dismantle NATO). But who knows when.
I already lost hope that I will be witnessing a unified political and military europe within my lifetime.

Skybird · 02-10-10, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldorak

The introduction of the euro was a leap of faith.
A necessary milestone on the road to a truly unified political europe.
We either could have waited for a political process that was never in the coming and then press the issue of a unified currency, or the reverse.
The first road was just impossibile to achieve even to die hard conviced europeans. So the second road was chosen. First europe as an economic entity and then god willing a unified political entity (and this second goal requires as a prerequisite to dismantle NATO). But who knows when.
I already lost hope that I will be witnessing a unified political and military europe within my lifetime.

I do not even want that European superstate. I also doubt it could function. I think many do not want it. That'S why they enforced the euro against the warning. That'S why they cheated on the Lisbon dictate. Economic cooperation, okay. Superstate - big No from me.

goldorak · 02-10-10, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybird

I do not even want that European superstate. I also doubt it could function. I think many do not want it. That'S why they enforced the euro against the warning. That'S why they cheated on the Lisbon dictate. Economic cooperation, okay. Superstate - big No from me.

This is where we fundamentally disagree.
I want an european superstate/nation. With its own military, a democratic political system. A cohesive foreign policy etc... A real unified europe politically and economically.
Of course there will still be local differences, different languages etc...
But we share in good and bad a common history. We don't have to abandon our nation states to have a political europe. We give away some of your prerogatives as nation states, but we gain more as a unit.
If the europe you want is only an economic zone then its already failed.
60 years wasted for nothing.

02-09-10, 11:06 PM	#2
bookworm_020 Navy Seal Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sinking ships off the Australian coast Posts: 5,966 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	The Euro can still be saved. There would have to be some hard decisions made, and not all of them would be politicaly popular. If they can't fix this, then the euro dream is over. __________________ "There is always one person in any organization who knows whats going on, That person must be fired"

02-09-10, 11:17 PM	#3
TarJak Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 17,052 Downloads: 150 Uploads: 8	Certainly looks like the poms had the right idea of being part of the union but not merging the currency.

02-10-10, 07:31 AM	#7
goldorak Admiral Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 2,320 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	The introduction of the euro was a leap of faith. A necessary milestone on the road to a truly unified political europe. We either could have waited for a political process that was never in the coming and then press the issue of a unified currency, or the reverse. The first road was just impossibile to achieve even to die hard conviced europeans. So the second road was chosen. First europe as an economic entity and then god willing a unified political entity (and this second goal requires as a prerequisite to dismantle NATO). But who knows when. I already lost hope that I will be witnessing a unified political and military europe within my lifetime.