June 3, 2005
BUFFETED ABOUT:
Italy minister says should study leaving euro-paper (Reuters, 6/03/05)
Italy should consider leaving the single currency and reintroducing the lira, Welfare Minister Roberto Maroni said in a newspaper interview on Friday.Posted by Orrin Judd at June 3, 2005 6:36 AMMaroni, a member of the euro-skeptical Northern League party, told the Repubblica daily Italy should hold a referendum to decide whether to return to the lira, at least temporarily.
He also said European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was one of those chiefly responsible for the "disaster of the euro."
The euro "has proved inadequate in the face of the economic slowdown, the loss of competitiveness and the job crisis," Maroni said.
First Crack?
Until they have real free movement of labor, the single currency is not going to work, IMO. The language and cultural barriers create problems.
The Euro economies are staying off-cycle with respect to each other, and perhaps getting more so. The one size fits all interest rates aren't working.
In the US, we solve that problem because people move where the jobs are.
Posted by: John Thacker at June 3, 2005 1:14 PM