Why doesn't the Uk join the Euro?

OneADay

Euro no thanks - I never understood the logic of single currency. For the Germans, French etc it all made sense, joined countries tryig to cut the cost of exchanging money. But when you do that, you lose the ability for countries to compete with each other.

Once the novelty wears off, the likes of Greece find themself in trouble with the global downturn. Best thing that could happen is for the Euro to crash and go back to single currencies per country or at least single currencies to cover smaller regions than Europe covers.

Ian_W

Ignoring the politics of it all, given that the introduction would cost business and government billions of pounds surely the question should be the other way around? The positives of change should outweigh the costs so I'd say - Why should the UK join the Euro?

Besides, I can't really see how a currency can work without a proper centralised government responsible for taxation, interest rates, government borrowing, central banking and so on along the lines of a United States of Europe. The experiment in its present form appears to be teetering on the brink because it falls between 2 stools with some powers held by the ECB and others retained by national governments.

In our present "splendid isolation" at least the government and BoE have more tools in the box than if we were Euro-ed. Whether they're using them properly or not is a matter of opinion - but they do have more options than Greece, Ireland et al.

ChiefGrasscutter

Ian_W wrote: »

Ignoring the politics of it all, given that the introduction would cost business and government billions of pounds surely the question should be the other way around? The positives of change should outweigh the costs so I'd say - Why should the UK join the Euro?

Besides, I can't really see how a currency can work without a proper centralised government responsible for taxation, interest rates, government borrowing, central banking and so on along the lines of a United States of Europe. The experiment in its present form appears to be teetering on the brink because it falls between 2 stools with some powers held by the ECB and others retained by national governments.

In our present "splendid isolation" at least the government and BoE have more tools in the box than if we were Euro-ed. Whether they're using them properly or not is a matter of opinion - but they do have more options than Greece, Ireland et al.

For the me above post sums it up nicely........
You need political union for monetary union to work over the long term - with the all the ramifications that brings.
One might also suggest that it needs a common language as well to facilitate the true free movement of people across the Euro region in response to economic downturns in particular areas.
For the UK our economics and politics are more generally aligned to the USA (the so called AngloSaxon model) rather than Europe so full political union with Europe seems unlikely...........in our generation at least.

Milarky

Hmm, mention of 'pigs' (a nasty, disparaging little term thought up by 'the markets') brings my mind back to the UK and the 'pig-headed' attitude displayed by so many commentators to the whole European project - of which the Eurozone is only a part. Do these morons actually want the most successful experiment in international peace and cooperation the World has seen to be destroyed??

Get a brain cell! Yes, I'll admit I've always been in favour of UK membership of the Euro. But then I've also always believed in the UK playing its part in the EU - which since Thatcher it decidedly hasn't. Why should 'Europe' continue to indulge our childishness - allowing us to belong to the club whilst flouting its rules? The UK, let me remind everyone negotiated itself an 'opt-out' from the requirements of the Maastricht Treaty as a condition of allowing (how big hearted ouf us!) the Euro to be created. It's like being Stalin signing the Allied agreement to partition Germany and then trying to avoid all collective responsibilty thereafer.

The UK is a 'rogue state' in this game - a kind of Iran to the rest of the Middle East - and the sooner some of the 'dinner jacket' commentators who take their lead from the Daily Mail acknowledge that the better for the rest of us.

(Of course if you think the country is 'going to the dogs' and want to leave it then you'd have to head off to Australia or New Zealand - not follow the masses to Spain or Portugal or, God forbid, France!)

melbury

Why on earth would we want to join? Don't see that there would be any advantages at all.

I think probably the majority of French and German people hate the fact that their currencies have disappeared and after all most of the Euro countries really hate each others guts, so we are better off on the outside surely.

melbury

Milarky wrote: »

Hmm, mention of 'pigs' (a nasty, disparaging little term thought up by 'the markets') brings my mind back to the UK and the 'pig-headed' attitude displayed by so many commentators to the whole European project - of which the Eurozone is only a part. Do these morons actually want the most successful experiment in international peace and cooperation the World has seen to be destroyed??

Get a brain cell! Yes, I'll admit I've always been in favour of UK membership of the Euro. But then I've also always believed in the UK playing its part in the EU - which since Thatcher it decidedly hasn't. Why should 'Europe' continue to indulge our childishness - allowing us to belong to the club whilst flouting its rules? The UK, let me remind everyone negotiated itself an 'opt-out' from the requirements of the Maastricht Treaty as a condition of allowing (how big hearted ouf us!) the Euro to be created. It's like being Stalin signing the Allied agreement to partition Germany and then trying to avoid all collective responsibilty thereafer.

The UK is a 'rogue state' in this game - a kind of Iran to the rest of the Middle East - and the sooner some of the 'dinner jacket' commentators who take their lead from the Daily Mail acknowledge that the better for the rest of us.

(Of course if you think the country is 'going to the dogs' and want to leave it then you'd have to head off to Australia or New Zealand - not follow the masses to Spain or Portugal or, God forbid, France!)

Let's just leave the club then and save ourselves a fortune:T

margaretclare

I hope we never do, but here's someone else who thinks so: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1248917/Why-euro-fracture-despite-mistakes-thank-God-Mr-Brown-kept-it.html

C_Mababejive

I would much rather join the US Dollar than the Euro.

vaporate

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I would much rather join the US Dollar than the Euro.

:rotfl:That toilet paper currency. I wouldn't be seen dead with that mickey mouse money in my pocket.

sabretoothtigger

If we joined the euro it would mean we could not print money to pay government bills