- Anything Else -

The Euro

I am tired of hearing that the Euro has dropped in value by 10% and is therefor a failed currency. Whoever said that because a currency changes in value that it should be given up?
A currency is meant to change in value relative to other currencies, since this means that if a country is heading towards recession the currency can be lowered to help sell stuff abroad.
It just happens that the Euro countries are getting near to the end of a 10 year cycle, where growth slows down. Britain is about a year or two ahead of the Euro countries, so went through this slow down earlier. I have heard some people claiming that the Germans should be ashamed of themselves, with their weaker currency, even if German industry is doing so much better than British industry. We should not be proud that the pound is so expensive, it is something many people take as national pride. "Hold your heads up high, for the Strong Pound".
The high pound has damaged the British economy, although it may have been necessary, since inflation was threatening. It was not clear to the average lay person, but if wages rise by 4%, and industrial production only rises by 1.5% (as it was when Labour came into power) then inflation is only a year or two away.
However, claiming that the Euro is a failure already is stupid. The German Mark would have done the same thing (by dropping in value) even if the Euro had not been taken up.
Also, a drop of 10% (or maybe a little more) is not disasterous. The pound has lost atleast 50% percent against the German Mark over the last 50 years, but no one gave up with it.
The fact that currencies varry is not cause for complain, it actually means Europe is more competative than other countries, which is what Europe needs right now thanks to the economic slow down. And that slow down was simply thanks to the economic cycle.

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