Et tu Brute

Það verður fróðlegt að fylgjast með evrunni á næstu árum.  Eflaust á hún eftir að vera mikið í umræðunni á Íslandi, en líklega ekki síður í öðrum löndum, löndum þar sem hún er nú þegar í notkun.  Eins og fram kemur í fréttinni er almenningur í Þýskalandi ekki of hrifinn af evrunni, en það sama má segja um fleiri þjóðir.

Nú um áramótin birtist frétt og dálkur í Daily Telegraph þar sem fjallað var um evruna.

Í fréttinni segir m.a.:

"Less than half of citizens in the euro zone are happy with European monetary system five years to the day after it replaced the franc, the mark and other national currencies, and following a painful rise in the cost of living.

A growing number of Europeans believe that the biggest monetary revolution in history has done more harm than good to national economic growth, the job market and standards of living, recent opinion polls have indicated."

"A poll published last week in France showed that 52 per cent of the French thought the euro had been a "bad thing."

The main complaint is that the euro has led to a rise in prices – 81 per cent described price hikes as its worst failing, a poll published by the European Commission indicated.

According to the poll, Italy is the most unhappy, followed by Greece and the Netherlands. Ireland is the happiest.

In France, official statistics suggest that inflation is no higher than before the euro, hovering around 1.6-2.1 per cent yearly since 1999.

But press investigations have shown that these statistics are inaccurate when it comes to basic commodities. According to Le Parisien, which published its own comparative study, the price of 30 everyday items had shot up by 80 per cent in the past five years. A baguette cost 65 cents in 2002 and 80 in 2006 – up 23 per cent. A coffee in a cafe had rocketed 120 per cent, a kilogram of potatoes had gone up by 93 per cent and toothpaste by 84 per cent."

Fréttina má finna hér.

Það er auðvitað einföldun að segja svona, en ef marka má fréttina er ef til vill ekki að undra að það sé drjúgt fylgi á meðal Íslenskra kaupsýslumanna fyrir því að taka upp evruna.

Í dálki á vefsíðu Daily Telegraph mátti lesa um svipað leyti:

"When the euro notes and coins were launched five years ago today, the question was who would be the next to join; now it is who will be the first to leave. Of the 15 EU members on January 1, 2002, it is the three that stayed out — Britain, Denmark and Sweden — that have prospered. The two Nordic nations have voted by handsome majorities to keep their currencies. In both countries, political leaders warned that a "No" vote would lead to a downturn; and in both countries, the "No" was in fact followed by a surge in the stock exchange, a fall in inflation and a drop in long-term interest rates. In Britain, public opinion is granite hard for sterling, to the extent that no serious politician proposes joining the EU currency, and the lobby group set up to campaign for it has folded.

Meanwhile, opinion within the euro zone has shifted. In France and Germany, majorities say they would rather have kept their old money. In Italy, some shops have started to accept lire again, to the delight of their customers. It may well turn out that membership of the euro has peaked at 13 with Slovenia's accession. The scenic Alpine state, which joined the euro at midnight, is the goody-goody of the new intake, keen to adopt every harmonising measure. Perhaps its euro-enthusiasm owes something to the fact that, uniquely among the ex-Communist entrants, it has been run continuously by the old regime. Not that Slovenia's rulers are Marxists these days, of course; indeed, they never really were. Rather, they are managerialists, supreme technocrats who have taken naturally to the Brussels system."

Sjá hér.

Ég á þó erfitt með að trúa að myntbandalagið brotni upp alveg á næstu árum en það er vissulega farið að bera á verulegri óánægju með bandalagið, fyrst og fremst vegna þess að efnahagur landanna slær ekki í takt.  Það er svo eðlilegt að menn velti því fyrir sér hvaða erindi Ísland á í þennan "klúbb".  Ef illa gengur fyrir nágranna eins og Þýskaland, Frakkland og Ítalíu að nota einn gjaldmiðil, hvernig gengi þá lítlu hagkerfi út í ballarhafi að finna takt við "klúbbinn"?

Ég fæ það oft á tilfinninguna að menn líti á evruna eins og alsherjar bjargvætt, skyndilausn sem kippi öllu í liðinn á augnabliki og allir lifi hamingjusamir upp frá því. 

 

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