Can We Join The Euro?

Seemed like every morning on our late European excursion, we were greeted with news of a new low for the dollar against the Euro. I guess what goes around comes around: I lived in London in 1976 (on an American paycheck) and as the pound fell against the dollar, I got a ten percent pay raise every month.

But it does prompt me to speculate: can’t we just join the Euro and be done with it.

Purists will cavil that we aren’t a member of the European Union, but I don’t see why that should be a deal-killer: if the Moldavans are on track to claw their way into the Union, you think there’d be some way to make room for us.

A more serious objection might be that we would have trouble with the fiscal integrity standards, given our penchant for spending money like drunken sailors, without showing any inclination to pay our debts. Remarkably, the fiscal standards seem to serve as a barrier to entry; apparently once you are in the Euro, you can do anything you damn please.

Short of actually joining, of course there is an easier route: we could simply peg our currency to the Euro. It’s a recognized strategy for weak or marginal economies, and I can’t think of any good reason why we shouldn’t take advantage.

Meanwhile, we came home to find we were holding about $140 worth of unconverted Eurocurrency. Our first impulse was annoyance. But then we reflected that we are due back in Europe again next may. The way things are going, this currency stash may turn out to be the best investment we’ve made this year.