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[Chittagong]

Edit - article is from summer 2015

Now, it's hard to do worse than Iceland. It basically turned its entire economy into a hedge fund that collapsed in 2008. Its banks defaulted, its government had to be bailed out, and its currency collapsed 60 percent. Not only that, but, between 2009 and 2014, Iceland did nearly twice as much austerity as the Netherlands and 12 times as much as Finland. And if that wasn't enough, Iceland's economic jeremiad also includes high household debt and capital controls that have prevented people from moving money out of the country and dissuaded them from moving it in.

But despite all this, Iceland has still managed to outperform Finland and the Netherlands. How is that possible? Well, it doesn't have the euro. It has its own currency, the krona. And as much as it hurt Iceland's people to lose 60 percent of their purchasing power on imported goods when the krona fell that much, it helped Iceland's economy by making their goods more competitive overseas. That was enough to keep what could have been a depression from turning into anything other than a bad recession.

The euro, though, does the opposite. Countries can't devalue their currencies or cut interest rates or even spend more when they get into trouble, and so they stay in trouble. All they can do is cut wages, cut spending, and then cut wages some more as penance for whatever economic transgressions they may or may not have committed. The euro straitjacket, in other words, turns ordinary problems into extraordinary ones (Finland) and extraordinary problems into historic ones (Greece). And that can happen whether or not you follow the rules.

The euro is a capricious god, meting out punishment to sinners and saints alike.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...t-do-everything-right/?utm_term=.8d8ebef922d7

Very interesting read. As a Finn living in London, this sounds pretty accurate.

 

[bosseye]

Interesting article. Here's another:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/10/joseph-stiglitz-the-problem-with-europe-is-the-euro

It's tough to make a single currency work across a region with such economic and political diversity.

 

[Daedardus]

I'm pretty sure that if the euro ceased to exist, the economy in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany... would collapse because so much has become intertwined and goods are heavily imported and exported over the borders. Half of our shopping is ordered online from webstores operating in a neighbouring country. So saying the Netherlands is doing poorly without the euro does not take into account how bad stuff can become for consumers when everything would be broken up again.

 

[Charles Brandon]

This is incredibly simplistic but I think the current state of the eurozone only makes sense as a transitional phase to full political union. Germany, through no fault of her own, has too much power and dominates economic policy to her own benefit, weaker countries have much less power and so have economic policy dictated to them, to their detriment. If the Eurozone was one nation, the northern power states would be obliged to consider all the citizens of the EU equally, not just their own. This is an argument for less integration as much as it is for more integration.

Something like that anyway. Possibly that's a load of bollocks.

 

[SamVimes]

Two words: fiscal union.

 

[bosseye]

Germany, through no fault of her own, has too much power and dominates economic policy to her own benefit, weaker countries have much less power and so have economic policy dictated to them, to their detriment. If the Eurozone was one nation, the northern power states would be obliged to consider all the citizens of the EU equally, not just their own. This is an argument for less integration as much as it is for more integration.

Something like that anyway. Possibly that's a load of bollocks.

Not bollocks, makes sense. This 'top heavy' alignment fosters discontent and distrust between those countries seen to be calling the shots and those feeling like they're just having to suck up the scraps that are thrown.

 

[KingSnake]

I can't access the article at work. What does this quote mean:

But despite all this, Iceland has still managed to outperform Finland and the Netherlands.

?

What are they measuring here? Because I'm pretty sure Finland's GDP is like 10 times bigger than Iceland's. If it's growth then well, no shit! Iceland had a huge drop with the crisis plus it's much easier to have bigger increases on a much smaller GDP.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

After the financial crisis this problem was discussed in Germany a lot. Several solutions were considered, for example Euro Bonds.
But then the debate died down and no solution was implemented...

 

[Chittagong]

What are they measuring here? Because I'm pretty sure Finland's GDP is like 10 times bigger than Iceland's. If it's growth then well, no shit! Iceland had a huge drop with the crisis plus it's much easier to have bigger increases on a much smaller GDP.

They are looking at where the three economies are compared to 2008 crisis, ie who has recovered best

I like Euro for the convenience, having the same notes when being in Helsinki and Catania, but not sure if the convenience worth the cost for individual economies. I mean, Sweden and Denmark seem to do just fine with their Krona.

 

[bosseye]

Two words: fiscal union.

In theory. In practice would it ever work? The figure I've seen thrown about is 20% of a countries GDP, the wealthy countries are never going to want to do that? Those like Greece maybe as they likely get vastly more out than they put in, but you have to wonder if such a system would simply exacerbate this feeling of the larger countries propping up the small ones with all the potential national resentment and fragmented sentiment that might lead to.

 

[G.ZZZ]

I can't access the article at work. What does this quote mean:



?

What are they measuring here? Because I'm pretty sure Finland's GDP is like 10 times bigger than Iceland's. If it's growth then well, no shit! Iceland had a huge drop with the crisis plus it's much easier to have bigger increases on a much smaller GDP.

Pretty much, if the economy crash, it's way easier to grow afterward. Afterall, the production possibilities are still there.

Not that i think the euro's great. We needed a fiscal union for it, and it's not politically feasible to do that now, unless stars align (like Schulz wins in germany and other pro-EU parties win everywhere else)

EDIT: i saw the graph now, i stand corrected, Iceland indeed performed great.

 

[Daedardus]

Not bollocks, makes sense. This 'top heavy' alignment fosters discontent and distrust between those countries seen to be calling the shots and those feeling like they're just having to suck up the scraps that are thrown.

The European Union's budget is mostly spend on subsidizing agriculture though, and most of it goes to those 'smaller countries', since their economy is more dependent on agriculture. And when you get countries like Poland trying to weaken their juridicial system, they fully deserve all the shit getting thrown at them from above.

I think the main problem just comes from trying to expand the eurozone so fast so large. I still feel that the original founders profited the most of it, while the later joiners brought some uncertainty into their country. We can't forget that many countries already had a slightly unstable economy before joining, and that they saw the joining process as a way of trying to better things.

 

[G.ZZZ]

In theory. In practice would it ever work? The figure I've seen thrown about is 20% of a countries GDP, the wealthy countries are never going to want to do that? Those like Greece maybe as they likely get vastly more out than they put in, but you have to wonder if such a system would simply exacerbate this feeling of the larger countries propping up the small ones with all the potential national resentment and fragmented sentiment that might lead to.

It's basically what has happened for all of the EU toward germany. It would be the same, but in reverse.

Germany may agree to it if we got a much stronger central governing body, which, again, no one would want. It's a shitshow.

 

[Charles Brandon]

The European Union's budget is mostly spend on subsidizing agriculture though, and most of it goes to those 'smaller countries', since their economy is more dependent on agriculture.

Smaller countries like France? Don't they get huge levels of agricultural subsidies?

 

[Linkyn]

In theory. In practice would it ever work? The figure I've seen thrown about is 20% of a countries GDP, the wealthy countries are never going to want to do that? Those like Greece maybe as they likely get vastly more out than they put in, but you have to wonder if such a system would simply exacerbate this feeling of the larger countries propping up the small ones with all the potential national resentment that might lead to.

It's the sort of thing that imo won't happen unless the economic gap between the member states shrinks. Long-term, a fiscal union makes much more sense, but it's hard to generate excitement for "giving away money" in the interest of great benefit somewhere down the line when many people are struggling today. Also, for all the talk of European solidarity, the emotional bond is much weaker than it would have to be in order to garner sufficient support. One needs only to look at efforts to balance the Neue Länder with the rest of Germany and some of the criticism that brought about (and this is an example where the ties between both sides are much stronger).

Edit: On the topic at hand, I'm really glad we got a currency union. Having different currencies is a complete pain when going 50 km in any given direction will take you across a border.

 

[Charles Brandon]

It's basically what has happened for all of the EU toward germany. It would be the same, but in reverse.

Germany may agree to it if we got a much stronger central governing body, which, again, no one would want. It's a shitshow.

Germany has to have this debate nationally. Germany has been reluctant to adopt the role of the de facto leader of Europe for historical reasons but it cannot prevent this happening under the current system. With the UK leaving, Germany loses an important counter-balance to her own power, with only France protecting the EU from German hegemony. Germany does not want this to happen as much as anyone else but France is not strong enough to prevent the gradual trickle of power into Berlin. Merkel is already calling the shots.

Germany needs to decide, does it want to control Europe as the biggest dog in the pack, does it want to Voltron with the rest of Europe to become one giant dog, which would involved a redistribution of wealth out of Germany, or does it want to disband the pack?

The vision of 19 dogs, of equal size, all running in one mutually agreed direction is looking increasingly improbable.

 

[Herne]

It sure hasn't treated Ireland very well.

 

[JettDash]

Having a monetary union without a full political union to do fiscal policy doesn't sound like that great an idea.

 

[G.ZZZ]

Germany has to have this debate nationally. Germany has been reluctant to adopt the role of the de facto leader of Europe for historical reasons but it cannot prevent this happening under the current system. With the UK leaving, Germany loses an important counter-balance to her own power, with only France protecting the EU from German hegemony. Germany does not want this to happen as much as anyone else but France is not strong enough to prevent the gradual trickle of power into Berlin. Merkel is already calling the shots.

Germany needs to decide, does it want to control Europe as the biggest dog in the pack, does it want to Voltron with the rest of Europe to become one giant dog, which would involved a redistribution of wealth out of Germany, or does it want to disband the pack?

The vision of 19 dogs, of equal size, all running in one mutually agreed direction is looking increasingly improbable.

What i got from this is that my country is a dog.

 

[KingSnake]

Iceland had a very deep dive and recovered, Finland had more prolonged but not so deep dive. So if you look only at a limited snapshot of the evolution you can draw whatever conclusions you want.

Combine this with the fact that NOKIA contributed a quarter of Finnish growth from 1998 to 2007 and you see that the issues of the Finnish economy are a bit more deep than just the Euro.

Using inflation to cover the flaws is nice for a while, but you can't hide it forever.

Bonus: comparison with other countries from the region who are not "suffering" from euro:

A good idea would be to stop blaming all the local fails on euro/EU.

 

[Charles Brandon]

What i got from this is that my country is a dog.

Would you prefer Wolf?

 

[Ac30]

Pretty much, if the economy crash, it's way easier to grow afterward. Afterall, the production possibilities are still there.

Not that i think the euro's great. We needed a fiscal union for it, and it's not politically feasible to do that now, unless stars align (like Schulz wins in germany and other pro-EU parties win everywhere else)

EDIT: i saw the graph now, i stand corrected, Iceland indeed performed great.

Macron winning gave me some faith as he's for it - now he just needs to
convince Merkel.

Edit:

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/40338756

Guess we'll see after the elections

 

[Lonewulfeus]

In theory. In practice would it ever work? The figure I've seen thrown about is 20% of a countries GDP, the wealthy countries are never going to want to do that? Those like Greece maybe as they likely get vastly more out than they put in, but you have to wonder if such a system would simply exacerbate this feeling of the larger countries propping up the small ones with all the potential national resentment and fragmented sentiment that might lead to.

The US says hi! Our better states(mostly blue ones shockingly! /s) subsidize the poor shitty states when it comes to federal distribution of tax dollars. No system is perfect.

 

[spwolf]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...t-do-everything-right/?utm_term=.8d8ebef922d7

Very interesting read. As a Finn living in London, this sounds pretty accurate.

Greece currency would be worth 0 right now... Italy for instance had huge problems with currency value back when they had lira due to fiscal issues they had.

Obviously Greece and Island have way too many other differences in economies and fiscal responsibility/spending/policies to be able to say that Greece would do as Island did with their own currency.

 

[Charles Brandon]

The US says hi! Our better states(mostly blue ones shockingly! /s) subsidize the poor shitty states when it comes to federal distribution of tax dollars. No system is perfect.

That's true - but it happened organically. Would the US vote to absorb say, Mexico (peacefullly) if it meant sending 20% of GDP south of the border? You would probably get the 20% back at some point through improved economies of scale and other efficiency savings but there is no guarantee.

 

[Aiii]

As someone who lives smack in the middle of a Germany and Belgium sandwich, the Euro has certainly made our lives about a million times easier in every aspect.

I remember working in a store and having to accept both Belgian and German currency as well as the Dutch Gulden. It was pretty shitty to the point where most stores just calculated a 1:1 ratio, despite the Mark actually being cheaper than the Gulden (1.9 Euro compared to the Gulden's 2.2).

It was a mess and I was glad to be rid of it.

 

[spwolf]

The US says hi! Our better states(mostly blue ones shockingly! /s) subsidize the poor shitty states when it comes to federal distribution of tax dollars. No system is perfect.

every country does the same, all countries have poorer and richer regions... US probably does least amount of wealth distribution like that due to lower social policies.

 

[MysticX]

uhm...as an Icelander all I can say is NO! NO! NO!

this all looks good on paper, but the whole story is not included.

for example, I use the dansih krona as an example since I´ve always used that.

now, in the crash, you could get as much as 26 krona for a single danish krona, which is very bad, before that happened it was about 11 at it´s strongest so the fall was very hard.

now the krona is back at 16 which is all good in itself, since the people are getting more out of it, but now the export bussinness wants to plunge the krona, plunge you say YES!

the fish industry has done this numerous time in the past, that when they krona is too strong for export they simply plunge it, it has been done at least 3 times I think and that does not bode well for the people, but still it was done since the fishing industry in this country is literally the mafia.

now, more companies have joined in on the fold like the now huge travel indsutry which in many cases is being controlled by the "icelandic mafia" and they have been whining for months saying that the industry will collapse if the government won´t plunge the krona again.

and as for they way of life, it´s very hard as it is, and plunging the krona again would just be really bad news for the people and only good for the export.

so no, I reject this assessment and I would prefer to have the euro or some other currency in this country so that the "icelandic mafia" cannot plunge the currency as they please.

thank you for reading.

 

[jts]

Use one example of monetary policy well applied for short term effect, even though it doesn't come for free (as highlighted in the post above), and it's essentially neutral in the long run.

Conclusion: "The Euro is a disaster for every country" :lol

You have bigger problems of yours to mind with, Washington.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Constantly trying to devalue your currency to be competitive doesn't really sound like the best way to grow a first world economy. Sure, it helps, but at some point you need to address the underlying problems and fix that.

 

[G.ZZZ]

Constantly trying to devalue your currency to be competitive doesn't really sound like the best way to grow a first world economy. Sure, it helps, but at some point you need to address the underlying problems and fix that.

This too. Italy did a tons of shitty decision trying to keep afloat industries that had no future, instead of investing in a general improved framework for all industries to work in.

But you can't talk to people. All they want to talk is vax /no-vax, migrants and soccer. Sometimes i feel like there's no intelligent life on this planet.

 

[johancruijff]

Use one example of monetary policy well applied for short term effect, even though it doesn't come for free (as highlighted in the post above), and it's essentially neutral in the long run.

Conclusion: "The Euro is a disaster for every country" :lol

You have bigger problems of yours to mind with, Washington.

seriously

a half baked article with a sensationalistic title

and i'm not even a Euro defender

 

[Sarcastic Poster]

The Eurozone is awful in a lot of ways. A great book that covers a lot of this stuff in detail is And The Weak Suffer What They Must by Yanis Varoufakis.

 

[DarthMasta]

I remember before the Euro was introduced, experts, economists, politicians, we were told the Euro was a stepping stone, not finished, after it's introduction there would need to be more integration, otherwise the system would eventually run into trouble.

After it got introduced and during the good times it appears people lost their taste for more integration. So now we move crisis to crisis, hoping that when a really big crisis comes the thing has been strengthened enough that it won't break. Or that some other country (never your own) decides to just chuck it in the bin and leave the Euro, showing other countries how to do without sinking into the sea...

 

[Dehnus]

Interesting article. Here's another:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/10/joseph-stiglitz-the-problem-with-europe-is-the-euro

It's tough to make a single currency work across a region with such economic and political diversity.

It's just the usual schtick about "The southern silly ones can't devalue thus doesn't work!" with a slight twist of using Iceland (A non Euro Nation in the North) as an example. They forget that The Netherlands and Finland also didn't fall as deep as Iceland and thus would recover slower. (The deeper you fall the higher your progress back to normal will seem).

On top of that: The European Union failed with Greece, not Greece nor devaluing the currency. Yes Greece made mistakes, but the EU should have stopped putting money into the current situation and rethink their "plan of attack". They saw that most of the resources put into the loans were flowing straight back to Germany and other North Western European Memberstates and big banks. By then it should have been clear that this tactic wasn't working or going to work, as only a minute amount of the loan would end up in Greek Spending Hands stimulating their local economies.

By then it should have been clear that the proper way to get Greek (and to lesser extrend Italy, Spain and Portugal) back on its feet was investing in their economies rather than just loaning to government or giving straight to Greek (German owned) Banks. For instance: Helping with infrastructure by for instance financing road repair and other maintenance. These repairs should favour local companies over memberstate and even outside of the memberstate ones. So that people who live in Greece actually get spending-cash in their wallets and thus drive their own economy.

There are far more similar ideas like this, that would help the Greek populace a lot more than just wiring over an amount that the Greek government can put "into roulation" as Euros, but actually is just going straight to the banks.

Money in itself is worthless, so all this does is print more and more money, of which most does not get "printed" and in "use" by actual Greeks.

And to give an other example of why devaluing is even worse:
Italy, famous for devaluing it's currency. Every so often they just divided the number and made a new printed currency to represent it. All it did was mask the amount of debt they owed by making the value "look smaller". Now rather than that, we can just see the amount of "Euros" in relation to the other countries and now just how much they owe or their GDP as it just is the number shown in a measurement that all surrounding countries use as well. In a way the EURO is nothing more than a "Metric system" in this regard.

Also: Keep in mind that before the Euro most currencies in Europe where already linked to the DMark. The Euro is just countries going "ah fuck it.... let's make this simpler, and let's call it something else so that the Frenchies don't get jealous". .

That last part is a joke regarding the negotiating they did with the French regarding the Euro .


I mean don't get me wrong, I like my NOK, but to blame it on the Euro like this is very shallow an argument and seems a bit written by a Brexiteer.

 

[FeD.nL]

Oh look the WaPo with another sensationalist commentary piece on the Euro(zone).

 

[Tugatrix]

Stop dreaming about fical union and a comunitary budget, that won t work as long as you have countries with low wages and other with good wages that allow then to have a good quality of life. The minimum wage is for example quite assimetrical inside the EU and that's a problem

 

[Carn82]

Mediocre article. Although the EU should work towards a more integrated fiscal system.

 

[Dehnus]

I remember before the Euro was introduced, experts, economists, politicians, we were told the Euro was a stepping stone, not finished, after it's introduction there would need to be more integration, otherwise the system would eventually run into trouble.

After it got introduced and during the good times it appears people lost their taste for more integration. So now we move crisis to crisis, hoping that when a really big crisis comes the thing has been strengthened enough that it won't break. Or that some other country (never your own) decides to just chuck it in the bin and leave the Euro, showing other countries how to do without sinking into the sea...

It's just a name for a number, it has no intrinsic value but what you give to it and what others are willing to give you for what you have.

The accumulated total of that willingness to give for what you have and value you yourself give for what others have is called: The value.

Therefore devaluation can happen even with the Euro, but it would happen more locally. For instance: Wages are higher in one country than the other. Same for a price of bread or milk, etc. This is not because the the bread is worth less or more, but it is because the Euro represents a different value in those countries/areas (as it can even be area specific, like why in Southern Germany the price of gas is different than in Northern Germany). So in Poland one could argue that the value of a Euro is worth more than say in Germany. Germany has in a way devalued their currency by inflation. But that is also what happens when you "devalue" a currency which isn't coupled.

The only advantage/disadvantage is: You cannot just start printing like crazy. And in my book that is an advantage. Other countries simply will not allow you flooding the currency. And due to the currency, people can shop abroad easier. This means that if Germany devalues too much, by making their prices too high and their wages not following suit, they can shop in Poland for better product prices. The system like that fixes itself eventually.

That is if you allow the currency to get into the hands of the people, and not the banks (and that is the major problem here, but you can also have that with delinked currencies). Furthermore, there also is a lot of "nostalgia" going on with a lot of these articles. People wanting currency back as "it reminds them of their childhood".

Currency is also a psychological/nationalism thing. But pure theory: It shouldn't matter what you call your paper, as long as it isn't being counterfeited and people use it to facilitate trade.

PS: Poland doesn't have the Euro, many Eastern European countries still don't. It is a comparison of prices when you put the price in Euros. And an example of devaluing while being in the Euro. Germany has devalued it's market like crazy in the last 10 years, just to keep export up.

 

[ClosingADoor]

I remember before the Euro was introduced, experts, economists, politicians, we were told the Euro was a stepping stone, not finished, after it's introduction there would need to be more integration, otherwise the system would eventually run into trouble.

After it got introduced and during the good times it appears people lost their taste for more integration. So now we move crisis to crisis, hoping that when a really big crisis comes the thing has been strengthened enough that it won't break. Or that some other country (never your own) decides to just chuck it in the bin and leave the Euro, showing other countries how to do without sinking into the sea...

The EU made the big mistake of expanding and expanding, without fully integrating the core countries first. We are seeing it again with the focus on Ukraine and the Balkans. Now, I don't have a problem with trade deals with Ukraine and such and if those countries are ready, great, but it puts the EU into this position where they again try to expand while we still have a lot of problems with long time members like Spain and Italy.

 

[kiguel182]

austerity is a mistake and this crisis proved it. Unfortunately the euro leaves some countries without any choice and it just ruins things middle term. All because EU is extremely unflexible and tries to apply the same rules to everyone despite every country being different.

I still believe in the EU but it’s problems can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.

 

[g11]

Yeah the problem as I always understood it is you have a unified currency without a unified economic plan, or even economy for that matter. It's kind of the economic version of the idiom "a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link" so you have economies like Greece that cannot compete with some place like Germany in exporting goods, and the Euro makes those often superior German products much cheaper to Greeks.

 

[Famassu]

Yeeeeah, Finland's biggest problem is the right-wing government that has been in power most/all of the 2000s. I'm sure some of Euro's problems don't help, but we are in the midst of the worst "fuck you, got mine" government in Finnish history who are systematically demolishing everything that makes Finland good & competitive, all while funneling money to themselves or their family/assosiates. Cutting taxes that bring in a lot of money and then whining that we don't have the money to pay for services (the crudest, most sickening example would be the latest cuts to inheritance tax and simultaneous cuts to elderly care that were pretty much exactly of the size of the money lost from the inheritance tax cuts)

 

[Jerry]

#BrexitWasRight

 

[Charles Brandon]

Brexit does allow the EU to address some of these issues with a broader range of solutions

 

[Dehnus]

Stop dreaming about fical union and a comunitary budget, that won t work as long as you have countries with low wages and other with good wages that allow then to have a good quality of life. The minimum wage is for example quite assimetrical inside the EU and that's a problem

Wages are always asymetrical, even in the USA. Heck even here in Norway: If you live in Oslo you get paid more than if you live on the West Coast of Norway.

Living prices are also higher in Oslo. So I know you believe it's a problem "RAAH CHEAP LABOUR CLOSE ALL BORDERS!" but in fact it never is, and it never was. As long as the money is spend, things even out. Those that work in your country but spend in their own, will cause inflation in their own country and eventually drive up wages there to keep up. But many eventually will decide to stay where their job is, and that money is actually spend locally. Eventually that means that they will also get higher wages due to having to live locally rather than some kind of strange system where they spend most of their time away from home.

But them since we are already discussing populism here, the same people that told you this probably also will complain about how those damn <x>'s do <y>! And that is very much a threat to your local populace .

Yes there is abuse however, there are companies who abuse low wage workers through loopholes and other constructions. But that isn't the currency at fault, that is a company trying to evade tax/wages. Which somehow is seen as an "honourable thing". WHAT!? You think that Republican like brainwashing was limited to the USA? We Europeans have the same issues, distrust of government, racism, populism and the politicians that abuse it in their favour. (And yes I also distrust my government, majorly so even, but I don't consider corporations to be much better ).

The best way to prevent this: Support your local unions and get these new workers to join your union. Then push for equal wages for all. It means the playing field will be level. And those that get hired, get hired on skill. That said a EU minimum wage might not be a bad step into that direction. But it has to be set at Western European levels for it to work. That also adds a nice criteria for joining the Union. Your wages have to be at least that high, and thus have a certain standard of living that is easily measured. Same goes for Eastern European countries wanting to joint he Euro. Poland and other countries like that are not Euro countries yet. So the earlier example I gave about "A loaf of bread costing less in Poland" was in the hypothetical situation where Poland also has a Euro and thus comparing products was easier.

Mind you, though wages are high in Norway, we do not have a minimum wage . But we do have strong unions though . But there have been scandals about that, were some farmers flew in people from Malaysia, paid them like 2 kroner an hour (that is like 25 US Cents) and then after working for 4 months flew them back. Yes.. there will always be ass holes like that trying to cheat the system, to make more cash. Thieves, Scrooges and scammers exist and always will. That is why you have: The Law .

 

[Dehnus]

#BrexitWasRight

They never were in the currency though.

 

[pswii60]

#BrexitWasRight

Brexit does allow the EU to address some of these issues with a broader range of solutions

The UK isn't in the Eurozone.

 

[Mirado]

How bad would the Euro have to negatively impact a country's economy before they decided to try and bail, if it's even possible to prove that the Euro is the main cause? Hell, can you even leave the Euro while remaining in the EU?

Grexit might be a bit different as it seemed to be something that could be done to Greece rather than by Greece, I think...I guess. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details.

How would you even go about reintroducing a local currency into a Euro based country, especially one with a lot of Euro-using neighbors? The whole thing seems like a massive headache.

 

[RoadHazard]

I'm pro EU, but glad that we (Sweden) have steered clear of the Euro.