‘F’   The Euro

 

You may notice that I have said nothing about the euro, the Single Currency, which is an essential part of the Project, but which is off our national agenda for the time being.  I have space to deal only with its worst aspects.

 

First- It is not an economic project at all. It was always a purely political project, designed as the cement to hold the emerging EU mega-state together.

 

Second-It also has serious design faults. The euro-zone has no common language, its mobility of labour is low, and its single interest rate cannot suit 12 [let alone 25] different and diverging economies for long.

Thirdly- Above all, no currency can endure unless taxes are paid from rich to poor regions within its area (e.g. South to North in the UK; West to East in Germany; North to South in Italy; [as] the Federal Budget in the USA).

 

There is no federal budget to speak of in the EU, and of course the plan has always been to set one up in response to the stress, which will therefore occur in the euro-zone.  No prizes for guessing who will be in charge, or what this would do to our tax rates if we join.

 

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