| 03 January 2008
Two more countries join the mighty euro while the dollar slumps ever further
into the shadows and the remnimbi looms scarily in the middle distance.
When will the world come to its senses and abolish currencies altogether?
Economists will say, oh, currencies are valuable because they are an indicator
of a country's monetary health, and varying exchange rates are an expression
of competition between states.
The euro-zone is the test of this proposition. So far, the dire prophesies
of eurosceptics have not been fulfilled: Italy has not fallen out of the zone
- all those lire under the bed are staying there; the discipline of centralized
interest rates has had a salutary effect on weak-willed governments, previously
addicted to the printing press.
The UK's Treasury will smirk, and say that its model of an independent monetary
authority is proving superior. But Gordon Brown was lucky during a period of
strength for the British economy. Now that debt is creeping up on his successor,
who has lots of bills to pay and no obvious way of paying them, we will see
who is right.
It's obvious that eventually there will be one global monetary authority, totally
independent of governments and states, and one global currency, all roughly
speaking on the model of the euro-zone.
But first there has to be a battle of the Titans between the emerging BRIC
economies and the lazy, over-fed economies of Old Europe and Old America. BRIC
will win, in currency terms, but by then the euro will have spread into another
twenty countries, and its model will be adopted.
You have been reading an entry on the following blog:
Jeremy Hetherington-Gore Unleashed
Jeremy tackles the difficult issues head on!
Contact: jeremy@lowtax.net
|
Lowtax Network Portal
Front Page
Tax Jurisdictions
Featured Content
