The EU should have free flow of goods, capital and people in the zone, this helps their economy a great deal. But they don't have to have the same currency to have that
The actual benefits of just having the same currency without the other stuff seems quite limited in my view
The EU has to an extensive degree a free flow of goods, capital and people. That's why the largest part of Eu trade is internal. The free flow of people has largely brought about a flow of immigrants from the poorest countries or naturalised in the perrifery looking for job opportunity or social benefits. Workers in no way have the kind of flexibility and mobility as in the US. Not specially skilled moving from France to Germany for a job? Never. That's a cultural thing and needs decades if not longer to change really.
I think that's a smoke-screen for an argument. A saver in British Pounds can always short the Pound vs. the EUR (or USD) if he wishes to have protection against a devaluation of the Pound if that's such a scary thought. For the life of me I don't understand why Italy and Germany - with widely differing fiscal, labor, pension, budgeting and tax policies - have any benefit of using the same currency. First the Italians are getting ripped off with cheap German-financed debt that they can't afford. Then the Germans get ripped off because the Italians default on the debt because they can't pay it back. It's ridiculous.
Short the currency. 90% of the population wouldnt understand what that means let alone how to act on it. Other then that you are arguing there should have never been a Euro but that's another discussion. I am saying if you are in a currency union it can offer benefits. Anyway, my personal opinion is that a lot of it has to do with sentiment and the business cycle really. When the FED accommodated a stock rally to the moon in the 90's nobody pointed any fingers yet 10 years and a giant bear later everyone is a Ron Paul fan. Should the Euro have never been implemented or restricted to the core? Perhaps. Would the perifery be better of today if the Euro never existed? Nobody knows.
90% of the people don't understand how to short a currency so for the benefit of the proletariat we should just go ahead and blindly start a currency union? You can't be serious. Of course there should never have been a European currency union without a unified fiscal, tax, social and pension system. You can't possibly have one without the other. Of course European politicians thought they'd get a political union 'sometime' down the road after introducing the currency but of course reality caught up quicker with them than they ever imagined.
The goals of every currency union in history are always political. Some work out (US), while others don't (Austro-Hungarian Empire). Not clear what happens with Europe, but I hope they find a way.
This is what the euro is about. This what saving it is about. Anybody who doesn't understand this is a child or has a child-like naviette (no idea how to spell it and don't feel like looking it up). http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/11/hilarious-video-of-eurocrats-in-action.html
This is pretty silly, IMHO. What does the abuse of power and position have to do with the Euro specifically? The UK has had a massive scandal related to MPs abusing the expenses policies and the UK isn't part of the Euro. And what about the recent discussions arnd the members of Congress and allegations of insider trading?
That video is at least 4 years old. Both the fee's as the rules have been changed since. But yeah, politicians want money what else is new. Maybe some Plato quotes to confirm it?