Why doesn't the UK adopt the Euro?

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Reply 60

member569366

the UK has never really felt part of europe

Reply 61

meenu89

Because we would lose control of our monetary policy, ask Ireland?

Reply 62

AnHuman

Thank you enlightened-ones for sharing the subjective opinions of your AS Economics teachers. Copypasta is all very nice until you actually have to answer a question yourself.
Thank you to UKIP-esque independence-at-all-costs mob for their tunnel-vision propaganda spout.
Thank you to the solidarity-at-all-costs mob for taking a break from attempting to group-hug the worlds problems away to share your happy-families view of the world to come.

Ignorance is rife.

Reply 63

Oivil

UK would be nothig und would have been nothig, if it were not a part of europe and didn't share its history and heritage

I think a lot of people in the UK are forgetting this

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 64

bircho

Original post by Bruv

Would you economic analysts please enlighten me to why the UK still grasps on to its proud pound?

Because we don't want to become the biatch of some unelected fat cats in Brussels.

Reply 65

username425364

The real and full reasons:

National deficits must remain below 3%,- the set of economic criteria to join the single currency are too harsh for us,- they mean we cannot join at present, according to the treaty of Maastricht,- our economy does not meet the objectives set out by the treaties and hence we couldn't join the Euro yet, or anytime since it's introduction in 1999.

Our policy makers and politicians want to remain in control of setting interest rates and target rates for inflation,- the European Central Bank sets these for Eurozone countries. This would mean we are unable to pursue some national economic objectives, for the sake of the benefits, or perceived benefits, the Euro brings.

We are very traditionally Euroskeptic as a public,- the public are opposed to it.

Current economic circumstances,- the Eurozone is no more resilliant than we have been, besides Germany (arguably not because of the Euro, but because of the nature of her export markets)

Inward UK investment has not fallen since we declined to adopt the Euro

The pound and Euro are not too different,- small fluctuations.

Trade with the Eurozone has not declined since they adopted the Euro and we did not,- so trade benefits would be small,- perhaps only real benefits for companies, rather than our economy as a whole, Euro/Pound price differences are small and tend to stay within a guessable range anyhow.

The Euro is yet to stand the test of time,- at the time of formulation British civil servants advised the government that it would be set to fail,- no EMU has stood the test of time yet.

The Irish crisis,- low interest rates from the ECB meant they had a boom in 2007, which lead to an expansion in credit and the property bubble,- with over exposed banks and the nature of the Irish economy, many warn that this could too happen to us.

10.

We still like to see ourselves as British,- national identity etc.

11.

The cost of introduction,- printing new currency.

The Euro itself lacks a central source of authority, the ECB is to some extent, however there is no proper figure head, or source for the currency,- some commentators call it the crisis of authority.
There are however many benefits the Euro would bring, for instance the fluctuation and uncertainty in Eurozone trade/investment both inward and outward would be somewhat reduced.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 66

DiZZeeKiD

Because the pound is better.

/Thread.

Reply 67

username425364

Original post by DiZZeeKiD

Because the pound is better.

/Thread.

You don't know what you're on about, see above.

Reply 68

wangelo

Because the Euro ****s everything up.

When Portugal converted to the euro, for some reason most things doubled in price yet wages remained the same.

You'd also lose a lot of financial power.

Reply 69

User570431

Yeah and we would all be budget

Reply 70

username425364

Original post by blueray

Yeah and we would all be budget

WHAT? :s

Reply 71

DiZZeeKiD

Original post by super.teve

You don't know what you're on about, see above.

Nor do I care, kind Sir.

Reply 72

adam_zed

Original post by .Ali.

This is looking at it from a purely non-economic point of view, but anyway:

The pound is a part of British culture. It's a symbol of our Nation, and of our former empire. It holds a lot of values (not monetary) for a lot of people. Also, I (and many others) dislike the European Union. We're our own country, we're not a 'state of Europe' or whatever, we should have our own currency and our own laws. I don't want any more power being given to Europe.

Thats such a **** reason to keep the pound. Trial by holding a hot coal and seeing whether God would heal the wound to prove innocence was once part of our culture but we progressed from that didnt we? Its this same vehemently traditionalist view that if inherent, would see us still living in caves wondering around hunting animals just because "it is what life is like now and therefore it is the only way in which we can live".

Also, no-one says that we are the "state of europe". I dont know why people keep putting forward this crap excuse to justify Euroscepticism. I would suggest that the reason we loose autonomy over civil areas of law is because we need some sort of standardised system for a free, euro wide market to happen. We still, bar issues like capital punishment, retain full sovereignty on criminal law. We are still very much an independent state and no misleading Daily Express article will change that. Now considering all of this, if you were still to say "I dont care, I dont want any power handed over to the EU" then you are making extremely significant decisions based on an empty sentimental value on what, stripped of everything, is a rock inhabited by life which we have falsely installed with a sense of identity which we hold as more superior to everyone else, as opposed to making decisions based on actual merit.

Economically, I know jack sh** about economics so I guess for the time being I must agree with you on keeping the pound, but only for economic purposes.

Reply 73

Flyer8

Original post by .Ali.

Economically, we'd all lose loads of money.

Are you from Coll? :wink:

Reply 74

Flyer8

A good clip about the EU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Xvy1r4Pm8

Reply 75

ikoghoo

It makes no sense to bind so many different countries with such different structures in terms of their economy to a single currency. It cannot work. The Euro is crumbling, it would have been a huge mistake to join, the way things are going, the UK will never adopt it. Each country should have their own currency and set their own interest rates. As much as I agree that the UK needs to be a part of Europe, adopting the Euro would be a stupid move.

Reply 76

DorianGrayism

Original post by paddyman4

Because countries borrow money by selling financial products like bonds to investors. With a bond, an investor gives money to, say Greece, in exchange for the bond. Greece then pays the investor an amount of interest every month, and then at the end of the bond's life, Greece pays the investor back the original amount. Investors can also buy many other things like this.

When Greece looked like it was going under, investors got worried that if they were to buy a bond, Greece would be unable to pay them their interest payments and would just be holding onto the investor's money with no gain to the investor. Therefore investors decided that it wasn't worth buying bonds from Greece (i.e. lending money to Greece).

Now in order to buy bonds or any other financial products from Greece, you need Euros - just like if you want to buy a cup of coffee in Greece you need Euros. So when everyone was buying bonds from Greece they first had to buy Euros. A high demand fr Euros meant a high value. If everyone suddenly loses interest in buying Greek bonds, then that's a lot of people who don't need to buy Euros anymore. Therefore the value of the Euro falls.

But I don't see why that is a particular benefit of the Eurozone since any economy can do that.

Reply 77

paddyman4

Original post by DorianGrayism

But I don't see why that is a particular benefit of the Eurozone since any economy can do that.

Oh sorry, I didn't actually read the post you were initially replying to!

It's not a benefit, it's a drawback. If we join the Euro then problems in weak European countries would cause the currency we use (the Euro) to lose value. That would make it more expensive for British-based investors or the British government to buy things (such as bonds, shares, commodities or imports like food and oil) from countries from outside the Eurozone.