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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (27988)	3/7/2005 3:57:20 PM
From: regli	Respond to of 110194

"The EU is a hodge podge of mixed goals and one currency and one interest rate is going to pose problems for various countries at various times. It is a mess IMO." I agree that Europe is a hodgepodge but if you look at the evolution of the EU since the early 60s, it is amazing to what degree things have come together. VERY, very few ever expected a France and Germany in such unison and even less likely a Maastricht Treaty with such wide ranging institutional integration. Europe has come a long, long way. The Euro has led to much more efficient commerce and significantly increased competition. Nowadays the French go shopping in Germany without having to exchange money or ever encountering a border guard. Competition is thriving. It should therefore be no surprise that heavily maligned Europe has had a larger increase in output per hour worked than the U.S. in the past decade. startribune.com This actually in part explains why Europe has increased its exports in the face of a significantly rising currency. Interestingly, I recently came across an article that advocated different interest rate levels for different areas in the U.S. Such a policy might have made a lot of sense during the rough times in the “Rust Belt” while California was flying high.