Buh Bye to the Euro?
Might be... From the
UK Guardian:
Year of bullying, bluff and bailouts leaves euro fighting for its life
Inside a freezing, derelict military barracks on the crest of a hill in the middle of Germany, Bernd Niesel single-handedly carries on with his labour of love.
The 67-year-old retired serviceman oversees a shrine to the Deutsche Mark, the symbol of postwar German success, running a small museum devoted to the remarkable birth and lamented death of the currency. The mark was born behind barbed wire in total secrecy in this barracks in 1948 in what became known as the "conclave of Rothwesten". The currency met an early death at the age of 50 in 1998 (though notes and coins were in circulation until 2001). But as the German opinion polls show every week at the moment, 30%-40% are hoping for a resurrection.
"Certainly for the older generation," said Niesel, "the feeling is very much one of nostalgia � 'if only we had the D-mark again'." The sentiment is hardly surprising given the turmoil besetting the D-mark's successor, the euro.
Only 12 years after it was launched to great fanfare and after early success, the euro is fighting for its short life. Two of the 16 countries using the currency have had to be bailed out, despite the ban on such rescues in 1992's Maastricht treaty that created Europe's monetary union.
Following the traumas of Greece and Ireland, Portugal may be next in line. There are worries about Spain.
In Brussels tomorrow the leaders of 27 countries, as well as the heads of the European commission and the European Central Bank, gather for their seventh EU summit this year, all consumed by the crisis surrounding the single currency.
Transnationalism was such a brilliant failure on so many levels. I am amazed that they haven't stuck a fork in it and called it done years ago. The idea that a group of sovereign nations would share a common currency is idiotic. Why. You are as strong as your weakest link and if one goes down, you either bail them out or the whole network goes down.
Europe is especially vulnerable now that the 30 years of socialist policies are bearing fruit and there is no more "other people's money" to spend.
Posted by DaveH at December 15, 2010 8:09 PM