Philip, With Ireland being locked into a hard currency completely unsuitable to our current economic circumstances how can a recovery ever take place? Portugal has been in a virtual depression since joing the Euro and we seem determined to journey down the same road. While Britain’s public finances are arguably in an even worse state than ours they at least have the ability to inflate their way out of debt and back into growth. Why is there no serious debate about the merits of leaving the Euro in this country (David McWilliams excluded)? Is there any precedent for leaving a hard currency and fixing your external debt at a set exchange rate on the day of departure rather than leaving it to the mercy of floating exchange rates? If this is a possibility surely it merits serious economic and political debate. There is now a significant movement in Greece from the tourism and agri sectors who are strating to lobby for a review of Greek continuation in the Euro. I don’t think they will be the last country to do so.
One reply on “F&D and the Euro”
Philip, With Ireland being locked into a hard currency completely unsuitable to our current economic circumstances how can a recovery ever take place? Portugal has been in a virtual depression since joing the Euro and we seem determined to journey down the same road. While Britain’s public finances are arguably in an even worse state than ours they at least have the ability to inflate their way out of debt and back into growth. Why is there no serious debate about the merits of leaving the Euro in this country (David McWilliams excluded)? Is there any precedent for leaving a hard currency and fixing your external debt at a set exchange rate on the day of departure rather than leaving it to the mercy of floating exchange rates? If this is a possibility surely it merits serious economic and political debate. There is now a significant movement in Greece from the tourism and agri sectors who are strating to lobby for a review of Greek continuation in the Euro. I don’t think they will be the last country to do so.