There is no fiscal authority at the same level as the monetary authority so they’re like states rather than countries but with no federal government.
Just look at Brexit to see what anti-EU sentiment can do if the environment is ripe.
It'll take at least another 30-50 years for any meaningful push for federalism to be possible.
That I'm not gonna criticize even a bit.
Without it it would be much worse.
"But there is much more to it all. It needs to be emphasised at the start that the establishment of a single currency in the EC would indeed bring to an end the sovereignty of its component nations and their power to take independent action on major issues. As Mr Tim Congdon has argued very cogently, the power to issue its own money, to make drafts on its own central bank, is the main thing which defines national independence. If a country gives up or loses this power, it acquires the status of a local authority or colony. Local authorities and regions obviously cannot devalue. But they also lose the power to finance deficits through money creation while other methods of raising finance are subject to central regulation. Nor can they change interest rates. As local authorities possess none of the instruments of macro-economic policy, their political choice is confined to relatively minor matters of emphasis – a bit more education here, a bit less infrastructure there. I think that when Jacques Delors lays new emphasis on the principle of ‘subsidiarity’, he is really only telling us we will be allowed to make decisions about a larger number of relatively unimportant matters than we might previously have supposed. Perhaps he will let us have curly cucumbers after all. Big deal!"
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v14/n19/wynne-godley/maastri...
Why are you pushing such a bs populist agenda? Those read like the weak and pointlessly stupid arguments I've heard around brexit and each country deciding per se, etc, etc.
As an Italian I'm stoked that my country has given up sovereignty on money printing, it would've been a disaster otherwise as it has been for decades before.
The Eurozone and common fiscal policy is the only thing that keeps our populist governments in check.
And don't you think that this wasn't known when the eurozone and common currency was decided among the members?
The pros *far* outweight the cons. It's not even an argument.
Opinions about the euro have always been positive and no country would go back.
The european commission regularly polls europeans for their stance towards the euro:
> Nearly eight out of ten respondents in the euro area think that having the euro is a good thing for the EU and nearly seven out of ten respondents think that having the euro is a good thing for their country.
Of all the things in the EU, the Euro is by far the most positive, without it the last 20 years would've been an absolute disaster for many countries in Europe.
My point is that sovereignty over issuing currency is synonymous with sovereignty in general.
What you're saying is that you're glad the government in Italy is more like a state, than a nation.
That's a fine point of view, but it implies that your country is incapable of self-governance. Do you think that's the case?
It should also be noted that I don't think there is any issue with economic federation, only that there is economic federation without political federation. As such, you have a monetary body whose power exceeds any political authority. However monetary policy can't truly operate in the absence of fiscal policy, so what you really have is a bank as your federal government.
And yes, I agree that we have a strong fiscal authority (the eurozone has strict rules for members about debt, deficit, spending, etc) without a strong political one. But it's an okay compromise.
The eurozone should indeed move into a federal entity, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.
A common currency is a massive boost to tourism and trading. Just think about the fact that many non-eurozone countries still bill tourists in euros, even turkey does that in their state run museums.