EU: A non-Keynesian View?

["John Gelles" <jjgelles@xxxxxxxx>]

	I am not sure that we need it, or even that I fully
	understand it, but Prospect (UK) has what I believe
	is a non-Keynesian, even anti-Keynesian, take on
	the euro from a UK perspective -- which nevertheless
	favors what's happening.

	The article is by David Currie, professor of economics
	at the London Business School and author of the Pros
	and Cons of Emu and Will the Euro Work? (Economist
	Intelligence Unit).

	You can read the piece in full at
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/highlights/emu_political/index.html

	Excerpts follow:

The Brussels summit at the start of May confirmed what had been evident for
some time: Emu will be launched on 1st January 1999 with 11 participating
countries. This confounds the sceptics, who have been forced to switch from
saying that Emu will not happen, to arguing that it will not work; and
vindicates those of us who have been predicting for several years a full
soccer team participation. Now the task for everyone - governments, people,
companies - is to understand the implications of Emu. How will it work? How
will it influence the future development of the EU? In particular, will Emu
lead towards a United States of Europe, the federated Europe that British
citizens and politicians find so unappealing?

.......

An important starting point is to recognise that the euro will be a crucial
symbol of the European project. If it works well, it will increase
awareness of Europe. The British who become accustomed to using the euro on
holidays and in Oxford Street (whether or not Britain joins) will become
much more aware of the EU. Americans travelling in Europe will see Europe
as much more like the US, and perceive a greater economic and political
cohesiveness, albeit combined with cultural diversity. The effectiveness of
this symbol will depend on how well the euro performs. But the perception
of the EU will be changed forever. It is even conceivable that the euro
might bring home to ordinary people the relevance of European institutions.

----- end excerpts ----

        John Gelles: Vote for an Individual Estate Account (IEA)
        jjgelles@xxxxxxxx                http://www.rain.org/~jjgelles/
        Modern nations cannot afford poverty, it costs too much.
        Its price is the money  the poor don't spend  that the rest
        would earn if they did.  If those with the least spent what
        it takes for a decent life, the rest would all have more for
        a grander one. That is  the nature of  production and free
        enterprise  protected  from monopoly  by law, and  from
        deflation and inflation by  individual indexed savings held
        in tax free accounts to create a controlled flow of money.
       [All the above equals an Individual Estate Account (IEA)]