March 15, 2005
THE HIGH COST OF PRETENDING TO MATTER:
The euro has pushed up prices, say 90pc (David Rennie, 15/03/2005, Daily Telegraph)
More than 90 per cent of consumers in countries that use the European single currency believe the advent of the euro has sent prices soaring, leading Brussels officials admitted yesterday.Joaquin Almunia, the European Commission's monetary affairs commissioner, acknowledged that the idea had "taken hold" in some countries that the euro had sharply increased the cost of living.
This was poisoning public opinion against plans to extend the currency to the whole of Europe.
Such gloom had "spilled over" into the 10 new member states that joined the European Union last year.
What a delicious irony if keeping the currency artificially strong during the war, so that they can seem like they still matter in some facet of international affairs, were to deep six the whole project.
Posted by Orrin Judd at March 15, 2005 11:43 AM
The EU project, as currently structured, will fail. It's constitution is absurd while it's Franco-German bureacratic nature is a recipe for entrenched mediocrity at best.
Posted by: Tom C., Stamford,Ct. at March 15, 2005 1:08 PMWhat do you mean, "fail"? Didn't you get the memo that Chirac is a neo-con deep cover agent? He will be remembered as a great contributor to the American Hegemony of the 21st Century.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at March 15, 2005 3:01 PMI remember reading that when the euro switched happened in Germany, many businesses used the opportunity to raise prices, figuring it would be less obvious.
Posted by: PapayaSF at March 15, 2005 3:53 PM