The real risk with Euro adoption is it becomes possible for a country to default on one's debts (because the government cannot increase the money supply to cover its liabilities). This means that...
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The real risk with Euro adoption is it becomes possible for a country to default on one's debts (because the government cannot increase the money supply to cover its liabilities). This means that the people of said country lose the ability to determine democractically what happens in such an event as the whims of creditors override a state's usual sovereignty. We can see that this ends tragically as in the case of Greece and Italy with the Eurozone debt crisis (and it seems really quite amazingly like Meloni is interested in a round two).
When creditors have the power to set policy and dictate government spending it becomes incredibly dangerous which is why Euro adoption has such strict rules around deficits and other aspects of monetary policy. Of course this limits what more wealthy countries with good reputations (and credit ratings) such as Sweden can do.
I find it really interesting that countries such as Italy and Greece like the Euro so much, given that almost all the economic benefit has gone to Germany (they benefit from a much weaker currency than they would have, which is very useful for a society which exports a lot of goods). This is also why I find it hard to take German arguments that they selflessly prop up the rest of the Eurozone with their supposed generosity. It's not like they aren't making out like bandits.
For figures the only ones I have been able to find thus far are these ones which suggest that over the first ~15 years following the introduction of the Euro, the net benefit to Germany was roughly 1.8 trillion Euro, whereas the net benefit to France was about -3.5 trillion Euro (a huge loss) and for Italy was ~ -4.3 trillion Euro (about 200% of Italy's GDP today).
Well, to be fair, we also shouldn't have faked our economic data just so that we can enter the eurozone without actually fulfilling all the criteria. We entered the eurozone for several reasons...
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We can see that this ends tragically as in the case of Greece [...]
Well, to be fair, we also shouldn't have faked our economic data just so that we can enter the eurozone without actually fulfilling all the criteria. We entered the eurozone for several reasons[2], including for sociopolitical and (socio)economic reasons. Of course, some things ended up affecting us negatively, as you already stated, but I can't say that life before the euro – or life without the euro – would be great either. Pretty much the entirety of Greece's 19th and 20th century economic history can be summed up as "poverty", "bankruptcy", "economic mismanagement", "unstable politics", "high inflation", "overspending" or other such words, depending on the time period.
I find it really interesting that countries such as Italy and Greece like the Euro so much [...]
Depends how you define that, tbh. On the older ages, there are many "drachma nostalgics" in the generations that were old enough to remember the drachma (e.g. –1990) but, indeed, a majority of people still support the euro. Not as many as before the 2008 crisis, of course. The truth is that, if we abandon the euro now, we're royally fucked, as it's speculated that it would cause an entirely new economic crisis for several years, as well as cause other sociopolitical effects.
That's an interesting perspective that I've never heard of. I imagine it's because it's not just the simplest explanation and it actually requires a modicum of thought?
That's an interesting perspective that I've never heard of. I imagine it's because it's not just the simplest explanation and it actually requires a modicum of thought?
The real risk with Euro adoption is it becomes possible for a country to default on one's debts (because the government cannot increase the money supply to cover its liabilities). This means that the people of said country lose the ability to determine democractically what happens in such an event as the whims of creditors override a state's usual sovereignty. We can see that this ends tragically as in the case of Greece and Italy with the Eurozone debt crisis (and it seems really quite amazingly like Meloni is interested in a round two).
When creditors have the power to set policy and dictate government spending it becomes incredibly dangerous which is why Euro adoption has such strict rules around deficits and other aspects of monetary policy. Of course this limits what more wealthy countries with good reputations (and credit ratings) such as Sweden can do.
I find it really interesting that countries such as Italy and Greece like the Euro so much, given that almost all the economic benefit has gone to Germany (they benefit from a much weaker currency than they would have, which is very useful for a society which exports a lot of goods). This is also why I find it hard to take German arguments that they selflessly prop up the rest of the Eurozone with their supposed generosity. It's not like they aren't making out like bandits.
For figures the only ones I have been able to find thus far are these ones which suggest that over the first ~15 years following the introduction of the Euro, the net benefit to Germany was roughly 1.8 trillion Euro, whereas the net benefit to France was about -3.5 trillion Euro (a huge loss) and for Italy was ~ -4.3 trillion Euro (about 200% of Italy's GDP today).
Well, to be fair, we also shouldn't have faked our economic data just so that we can enter the eurozone without actually fulfilling all the criteria. We entered the eurozone for several reasons [2], including for sociopolitical and (socio)economic reasons. Of course, some things ended up affecting us negatively, as you already stated, but I can't say that life before the euro – or life without the euro – would be great either. Pretty much the entirety of Greece's 19th and 20th century economic history can be summed up as "poverty", "bankruptcy", "economic mismanagement", "unstable politics", "high inflation", "overspending" or other such words, depending on the time period.
Depends how you define that, tbh. On the older ages, there are many "drachma nostalgics" in the generations that were old enough to remember the drachma (e.g. –1990) but, indeed, a majority of people still support the euro. Not as many as before the 2008 crisis, of course. The truth is that, if we abandon the euro now, we're royally fucked, as it's speculated that it would cause an entirely new economic crisis for several years, as well as cause other sociopolitical effects.
That's an interesting perspective that I've never heard of. I imagine it's because it's not just the simplest explanation and it actually requires a modicum of thought?