delirus question

[SpiralDragon]

ok first off hi to everyone here been some time since i posted but been up to my ear i work and things of a similar nature.....


i am curently working on 4 independent documentaries

1. Street children of lebanon

2. the degenaration of education in Labnon

3. Children and Aids in Lebanon

4. a Unified world wide currency


i am intrested in what you guys think of no. 4

what are the up sides to such a proposition ... what are the down sides....


who would be intresting people (int'l) to talk to about this subject.

[UtwigMU]

No4 check out economic impact of larger/smaller currencies (roman empire, holy empire, split germany, zollverein, euro).

Bretton-Wood.

Focus on euro - world currency would have some requirements.

Petro Dolar - practioally a world (echange) currency.

Ask a few macroeconomic experts you can come by.

Dig out some requirememnts for currency - eg, who would vouch for it, how would it be covered, who'd prevent banana republics from printing it, who'd enforce world's monetaty authority (world central bank).

Virtual currency, impact....

[KvHagedorn]

The Euro has been a qualified success. Most of the participating nations have a pretty good economy and are well developed countries. Countries which had a stronger currency lost a little bit, and those with weaker currencies gained, but the loss was eventually overcome by the greater clout gained by becoming a larger economic entity. Now all this is relative, of course. The U.S. dollar has lost ground vs. the Euro because many lesser developed countries are buying Euros now as a big, stable currency, with the many member states of the EU generating more stability due to the fact that policy-making is not as centralized. This makes Europe more of a stable entity than the United States in many ways, like a collection of Swiss Cantons on a very large scale.

Now, to compare the creation of the Euro with the creation of a universal worldwide currency, there would no strength generated by the buying of these World Economic Units by other nations, and there would be very many more poor nations than rich nations participating in the changeover.. enough to thoroughly wreck the economies of the industrialized world. This would be more destabilizing than I think anyone can imagine, and I would expect massive worldwide warfare within a few years, and possibly the extinction of mankind.

[Brian Ellis]

This would be a wonderful, theoretical ideal but I doubt whether it could ever be put into practice, at least in the short to medium term.

Apart from the Euro, there are many examples of a single currency covering diverse states of differing economic levels, such as the US dollar and the Swiss Franc. In both these cases, the monetary reunification has had the effect of bringing the poorer states up to a +/- similar level of the richer ones, but this has taken many decades. The Euro hasn't been round long enough to have had any significant effect at this level. IOW, monetary reunification is a great leveller and, for this reason alone, I believe it would be a good thing.

However, there is a great prerequisite which would be necessary before this could happen. The total global abolition of all customs tariffs and equalisation of tax levels, along with banning government subsidies to any branch of industry, including agriculture. A global free trade organisation is an ideal way of boosting the economy of rich and poor nations alike (this HAS been shown on a smaller scale in Europe). Eliminating tariffs would also eliminate half the corruption in the world, as customs officers are major perpetrators (even in developed countries). In many countries, maintaining customs costs more to the general economy than the revenue generated. As for subsidies, they are EVIL and upset the fair balance of offer and demand. Every enterprise and farm should produce what it thinks it can fairly sell on the open market. If it produces a mountain of butter or meat that it cannot sell, or it has more aircraft than it can generate revenue with, then they have only to declare bankruptcy or sell the business to someone who can better judge the economic capacity of the enterprise and scale it to what is sellable. Governments have no right to give a crooked cent of taxpayers' money to companies, including farmers, that cannot profitably manage their own affairs.

[Dr Mordrid]

Here we go to the one world government idea again....right along with its HUGE potential to trash the rights of its component regions. After what we've seen of how the EU "works"; no thanks.

Dr. Mordrid

[GNEP]

You can either move money or move people. If exchange rates are all fixed (by having a single currency), then you can only move people to restore price parities and reduce regional poverty gaps.

[SpiralDragon]

gnep.... can you please elaborate on that.....


i am concerned in finding out what would hapen to the value of money if there is nothing for it to rlate to.... if it is the only curency then it has no value to lose or gain... .over printing money then would not devaluate it.... what would hapen to the world economiy that we are curently used to... ie profit and loss..... how would that affect the world culture.... say if more money can be printed and distributed to the poorer nations.... compnaies for instance will no longer have to compet on the price level, would that increas the qulity of products or do the oposit.... would a unified curency (if well regulated and monitored etc... ) decreas political and other sutch curuption? would people and componies still lie about so caled budget cuts etc etc... there are infinit posibilities i think.... but my most imprortant question is how would it affect our lives....


KvHagedorn: how would such an idea, if materialised bring on the end of humanity? is it humanity, or is it rather our curent way of doing business and trade?

[KvHagedorn]

Originally posted by SpiralDragon
gnep.... can you please elaborate on that.....


i am concerned in finding out what would hapen to the value of money if there is nothing for it to rlate to.... if it is the only curency then it has no value to lose or gain... .over printing money then would not devaluate it....

Of course it would devalue it. The law of supply and demand still applies.

what would hapen to the world economiy that we are curently used to... ie profit and loss..... how would that affect the world culture.... say if more money can be printed and distributed to the poorer nations....

Don't be silly..

compnaies for instance will no longer have to compet on the price level, would that increas the qulity of products or do the oposit.... would a unified curency (if well regulated and monitored etc... ) decreas political and other sutch curuption?

Not in the remotest degree.

would people and componies still lie about so caled budget cuts etc etc... there are infinit posibilities i think.... but my most imprortant question is how would it affect our lives....


KvHagedorn: how would such an idea, if materialised bring on the end of humanity? is it humanity, or is it rather our curent way of doing business and trade?

The industrialized West would finally rebel against liberal illogic if their currencies were diluted and thoroughly devalued by some sort of outside intervention like this, and we were all thrown into poverty. Germany in the 20s is a good example of what could happen, but on a mammoth scale.. industrialized world vs the third world.

[GT98]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
The industrialized West would finally rebel against liberal illogic if their currencies were diluted and thoroughly devalued by some sort of outside intervention like this, and we were all thrown into poverty. Germany in the 20s is a good example of what could happen, but on a mammoth scale.. industrialized world vs the third world.

But also remember many manufacturing jobs and even IT type jobs are getting moved to India and Eastern European countries since the cost of living there is MUCH cheaper then in the States. Its a quite interesting question for People who live in the US...if you move most of your manufacturing jobs or IT jobs overseas, whos gonna be left in the US to buy your products that come from there if they dont have a "good" paying job? But thats another disscusion.

[GNEP]

SD - You should try to look up stuff by Robert Mundell (sometimes known as Bob Mundell). He did some work in the 60s I think to try and define what could be an "optimum currency area" (google that phrase for some more ideas...) - bascally conditions which should be met in order for a single currency to work across a certain geographical/political area.

Now as far as I remember (this takes me back a few years...), one of his first conditions was that within the optimum currency area there should be a high degree of labour mobility (Google: "geographical mobility of labour") - ie people are willing and able to re-locate.

I would probably confuse you further if I tried to explain from rusty memory, so try looking it up.

[GNEP]

http://www.robertmundell.net/Menu/Main.asp?Type=5&Cat=09&ThemeName=World%20Currency

I think over the last decade or so his more recent ideas have been dismissed as a bit mad...

[GuchiGuh]

who gives a flying..........
Just grab as much money as you can and enjoy your life!