Re:Brexit Deal Fails in Parliament
by wahern on Wednesday January 16, 2019 @08:17PM
(#18927444)
Sure, it's harder in the EU and more problematic in the EU. But so what? It's one thing to argue soberly that it's not working well for such-and-such country. It's another to exclaim, as is most often done, that it's a complete and utter disaster when it's plainly obvious it's not. As monetary systems go most nations would love to be in the EU, even with all the very real and substantial downsides.
The EU is a complex institution and the single currency is only part of it. An integral part, to be sure, but IMO we (the political chatter class) put far too much emphasis on monetary policy, both as our source of problems and a source of solutions. Often it's a distraction or excuse for more substantive issues, like political and fiscal ineptitude. Take Greece for example--when push came to shove most observers, as well, as Greeks themselves, decided that leaving the Euro was not the answer. When forced to soberly assess the situation it turns out that the Euro wasn't the most pressing problem and that on balance they were better off enduring.
Regarding comparison with the United States, let's not forget that political battles over a national bank dominated national politics for almost the first 50 years. Similar to issues over tariffs, what benefited the north was often to the detriment of the south, and vice-versa. And this was at a time when there were virtually no direct federal wealth transfers, and federal revenue came predominately from tariffs, which pitted not only the north (net importers) against the south (net exporters), but both against the federal government (tariffs were placed on both imports and exports). If the interplay between monetary policy and trade competitiveness was understood at the time and today's Euro critics were teleported back in time, who knows what might have happened!
The EU is a complex institution and the single currency is only part of it. An integral part, to be sure, but IMO we (the political chatter class) put far too much emphasis on monetary policy, both as our source of problems and a source of solutions. Often it's a distraction or excuse for more substantive issues, like political and fiscal ineptitude. Take Greece for example--when push came to shove most observers, as well, as Greeks themselves, decided that leaving the Euro was not the answer. When forced to soberly assess the situation it turns out that the Euro wasn't the most pressing problem and that on balance they were better off enduring.
Regarding comparison with the United States, let's not forget that political battles over a national bank dominated national politics for almost the first 50 years. Similar to issues over tariffs, what benefited the north was often to the detriment of the south, and vice-versa. And this was at a time when there were virtually no direct federal wealth transfers, and federal revenue came predominately from tariffs, which pitted not only the north (net importers) against the south (net exporters), but both against the federal government (tariffs were placed on both imports and exports). If the interplay between monetary policy and trade competitiveness was understood at the time and today's Euro critics were teleported back in time, who knows what might have happened!