I remember when all this were fields...
well sort of. I remember when b3ta didn't exist yet and neither did the Eurozone.

~~~~~~ wavy lines as we travel back twenty-odd years ~~~~~~

I remember my dad saying a single-currency Europe would never work because the economies in different parts of Europe were so different: he said that there was no way an economy like Germany's could be lumped into the same system as an economy like Greece's, because they work at different speeds. It would all turn into a total train-wreck, he said.

~~~~~~ wavy lines bring us back to the present day ~~~~~~

Well who'd have thunk it, the old git was right! It IS a total train-wreck, and he even correctly picked the country which would cause all the problems! Idiot politicians couldn't see the common sense in not having a Eurozone. An ordinary bloke like my dad could see it, but he wasn't a politician, so no-one payed any attention to what he was saying.

I'm not sure how this fixes the world, as the damage is already done. But I do think that the Eurozone has to go: it is fundamentally flawed and can NEVER work effectively. All the different European countries are just too, erm, different.
( Purple Martin is board sigless, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 7:38, 4 replies)

Nonsense
Same argument could be used to say Newcastle should have a different currency to Bristol.
( Ghoti Fingers, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 8:41, closed)

The states in the US and the provinces in China are as different as the nations in Europe
Trouble is, the EU lacks the ability to manage these, without full fiscal union, tax raising powers, capital allocation etc. (This is not to advocate it, but just to point out that it is possible). As it is, EU member states have to agree to these voluntarily, which as we're seeing is difficult, even when it's clearly in their own self-interest.
(McChinaman banned, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 9:28, closed)

It hasn't worked I agree.
Greece are buying BMWs from germany and selling them Tomatoes.
Too much imports and not enough exports. Oh and of course the fact that no fucker pays taxes, but of course everyone blames the Euro.
(Bababoon, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 9:35, closed)

The politicians knew it wouldn't work.
But it got them votes from morons and temporary power as leaders of the union. They probably got a few backhanders from bankers too for giving out exchange rates etc. in advance.
The thing to remember is that politicians only work for themselves, and never give a flying fuck about the people who they are meant to be serving.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Fri 23 Sep 2011, 19:13, closed)