| « Iris Robinson's Vile Priorities | Mixed Messages in Newry & Mourne » |
Republic Doesn't Register on ECB Radar
It's easy to think, when you're travelling abroad in Europe (or even hopping over the border), that it wouldn't be a good thing if we were to join the Eurozone and do away with all the nasty changing money business.
The Irish Times carries a cautionary tale about the inflexibility of a central bank setting policy for such a large and diverse area as the EU though.
The European Central Bank's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, warned that the ECB has more important things to worry about than eurozone members like the Republic of Ireland [sic], Spain and Portugal that are experiencing economic difficulties.
"The ECB has to care for the superior interest of the euro area.
...
Our monetary policy must be optimal at the level of the whole euro area - exactly like the Fed [the ECB's American equivalent] would not look at what is in the interest of Missouri, California or Texas."
Trackback address for this post
1 comment
The UK is constantly having to change its interest rates in response to interest rate and currency movements in Europe The USA and Asia. If we dont and we set the rates substantially lower than the rest of the world then money flows out of the country. If we set the rates too high then the pound rises so high that our exports become uncompetitive. It is for this reason that the UK media pay such close attention to interest rate announcments from the ECB, Federal Reserve and Japanese Central bank.
And if /when the UK joins the Eurozone dont you think as country of 60 odd million people we are going to have slightly more influence on ECB policy than a country of 4 odd million ?
Comment feed for this postLeave a comment
