Posted on 06/03/2005 3:05:36 PM PDT by Cornpone
AMSTERDAM Doom scenarios about the future of the euro are being heard in France and the Netherlands after both nations rejected the EU Constitution in recent referendums.
The president of the Dutch reserve bank DNB, Nout Wellink, has dismissed the speculation as "nonsense", while German Finance Minister Hans Eichel claims such talk is "irresponsible".
But the word is out: after two 'no' votes and a persistent economic malaise, doom and gloom scenarios are being heard about the future of the euro, Dutch newspaper 'De Volkskrant' reported on Friday.
"It is no longer unthinkable that the euro will bust," Leuven University international economics professor Paul de Grauwe said.
Underpinning his assertions, a professor with the European University in Florence, Rick van der Ploeg, said the present political reality could lead to the end of the euro.
Opponents to the euro, including Amsterdam University economics professor Sweder van Wijnbergen, warned in the 1990s Europe could not have a single currency because the economies of the various countries were so different. A single currency would also require a political union, he said.
Supporters of the currency said a political union would arise naturally due to the introduction of a joint currency.
However, De Grauwe said political integration appears to be dead after the no votes in the Netherlands and France, despite the fact "a political union is necessary for a healthy euro".
Van Wijnbergen says the growth rates of European economies are still widely different and it is no longer possible for individual nations to maintain different monetary policy or exchange rates to buffer economic imbalances.
If EU workers relocated to regions with good economic growth, economic differences would level out. But labour mobility does not and will never exist, Van Wijnbergen claimed.
However, he rejected the overnight dismantling of the euro due to the high costs involved and Van der Ploeg said the joint currency can still be rescued. This would depend on France and Germany reforming their labour markets, he said.
"Those major players are Asian banks that are heavily infested in the euro."
Infested? I wouldn't go that far, but they might have been feeling rather infested in recent days.
Infested? I wouldn't go that far, but they might have been feeling rather infested in recent days.
Thanks for the copy edit. Yes, spelling should be invested. I am not a fan of Freud, but I see now why he came up with his theory of the unconscious. How else to explain mistakes that make more sense than your first thought?
"How else to explain mistakes that make more sense than your first thought?"
Intelligent Design, LOL?
I don't know if it's intelligence doing the designing, but it does bring about humor, a constant source of pleasure.
"I don't know if it's intelligence doing the designing, but it does bring about humor, a constant source of pleasure."
Which brings to mind one of my favorites: "Sex proves that God has a sense of humor."
That's a good one. One of my favorite stories from classical mythology is about Aphrodite and Ares caught in the net of Hephaestus.
Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, is married to Hephaestus, the homely and crippled blacksmith of the gods, but she has a secret affair with Ares, the handsome god of war. Hephaestus finds out about it and plans his revenge. He uses all the masterly skill of his craft of metalworking to fashion a net of fine mesh, and when the lovers are in their bed of passion, he throws his net around them. It binds them so tightly that they are not able to move from their intimate embrace. He then calls all the other gods and goddesses to come and see, and when assembled they all burst out in laughter at this ridiculous scene.
Sex is indeed a source of pleasure but not always for the people engaging in it.
ONE QUESTION?
Didn't OPEC decide to trade in euro's instead of dollars?
No way!!!! Please provide a source!!
John Kerry as reported by Dan Rather. Rather even has documents to prove it! He got them from a know psychiatric who got them from an unknown woman at a race track. Now how much evidence could you possibly need?
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