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This assumption is the same mistake made by almost all supranational federalists. Europe is composed of different countries with vastly different languages, cu

This assumption is the same mistake made by almost all supranational federalists. Europe is composed of different countries with vastly different languages, cultures and economic conditions. Just because they're technically "joined" together via treaties doesn't mean labor is going to naturally distribute throughout the union.

themartorana 10y ago
And yet they thought a shared currency would be no big deal.
- cloakandswagger 10y ago
  Don't get me started. Economists from around the world were adamant that the Euro was a terrible idea when it was founded. Binding dozens of wildly differing economies to one currency controlled by one central bank has always been a pipe dream, but it takes decades for it to start to unravel.
  - ZeroGravitas 10y ago
    The politicians knew a shared currency without sharing other aspects was a bad idea, but they gambled that as the problems became manifest, they would be solved by greater unity. Maybe that was stupid, but it's a different kind of stupid than not listening to the economists.
- mapt 10y ago
  No, this could totally have worked. Once the Euro was implemented, they had a choice: Either do what's necessary for real large-scale labor-market mobility (where migration becomes a typical part of life and a substantial part of every paycheck gets remitted back to one's family), and-or create a fiscal union where Spanish spending gets subsidized by German taxes for the sake of unity. They opened the door a bit to the former legally but didn't force the issue sufficiently to make the numbers work, nor did they let economies collapse in ways that cause large-scale migration (preferring to buoy them up with unsustainable debt). They did little towards the latter. This was inadequate, and caused a massive, entirely foreseeable debt crisis because the ability to print money for the use of a single national economy that desperately needs inflation, was lost. The thing that the Eurodollar politicians were trying to force the 2000's politicians to do, did not come to pass.
erfgh 10y ago
People can and do learn foreign languages you know. Also, for many positions just knowing English will do initially.

themartorana 10y ago

And yet they thought a shared currency would be no big deal.

cloakandswagger 10y ago
Don't get me started. Economists from around the world were adamant that the Euro was a terrible idea when it was founded. Binding dozens of wildly differing economies to one currency controlled by one central bank has always been a pipe dream, but it takes decades for it to start to unravel.
- ZeroGravitas 10y ago
  The politicians knew a shared currency without sharing other aspects was a bad idea, but they gambled that as the problems became manifest, they would be solved by greater unity. Maybe that was stupid, but it's a different kind of stupid than not listening to the economists.
mapt 10y ago
No, this could totally have worked. Once the Euro was implemented, they had a choice: Either do what's necessary for real large-scale labor-market mobility (where migration becomes a typical part of life and a substantial part of every paycheck gets remitted back to one's family), and-or create a fiscal union where Spanish spending gets subsidized by German taxes for the sake of unity. They opened the door a bit to the former legally but didn't force the issue sufficiently to make the numbers work, nor did they let economies collapse in ways that cause large-scale migration (preferring to buoy them up with unsustainable debt). They did little towards the latter. This was inadequate, and caused a massive, entirely foreseeable debt crisis because the ability to print money for the use of a single national economy that desperately needs inflation, was lost. The thing that the Eurodollar politicians were trying to force the 2000's politicians to do, did not come to pass.

erfgh 10y ago

People can and do learn foreign languages you know. Also, for many positions just knowing English will do initially.