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While I understand the truth that staying in the Pound is important to Scottish voters, I don't understand why. The Euro seems like a very close substitute to

While I understand the truth that staying in the Pound is important to Scottish voters, I don't understand why. The Euro seems like a very close substitute to the Pound. They're both strong, largely un-inflated currencies that a sovereign Scotland will not control.

RobertoG 10y ago
"currencies that a sovereign Scotland will not control" And that's the key thing. They would be changing masters, probably for the worst. As a former Euro supporter and now Euro sceptic I would recommend them to keep their lead in their own hand.
- aetherson 10y ago
  But that doesn't seem to be what they want. I agree about being skeptical of being a small, relatively powerless country in a currency union with a much larger economy, but that's the case for them regardless of whether they're on the Pound Sterling or the Euro.
  - RobertoG 10y ago
    That's my point. They can't do nothing about being a small country. Their best option is have their own currency.
    - aetherson 10y ago
      But my point is that they don't want their own currency. Also, the EU won't let them have their own currency. So given that that's off the table, the Euro is as good as the Pound for them.
- akoncius 10y ago
  it's a bit offtopic, but I'm curious why you changed your opinion and became euro sceptic. Could you explain ?
  - RobertoG 10y ago
    Sure, I started to read about economy, and I think I have now a good understanding about how the system works. That changed my mind. It's my believe now that my country just give away a very important part of their sovereignty (maybe the most important) to entities that have not our best interest in mind. I would not be against the Euro if I though that the people in charge is on my side. As an example (even if I'm not greek), we have seen the ECB just closing the Greece bank system when they are supposed to protect it. For anyone interested, there are some discussion now about the legality of that movement: https://diem25.org/thegreekfiles/ https://diem25.org/thegreekfiles/
k-mcgrady 10y ago
>> While I understand the truth that staying in the Pound is important to Scottish voters, I don't understand why. I've always heard the argument that things are more expensive in the Euro. I know people in countries where they switched to the Euro and salaries remained the same while prices of goods went up. I'm not sure why this happens (or even if it's true) but it's a reason a lot of people are against losing the pound.
- aetherson 10y ago
  It seems way more likely to have been the case in economies that were previously on a weak currency (like, say, Italy) than ones on a strong one (like, say, Scotland).
- jpetso 10y ago
  My Grandma was saying this a lot. With some economic headwinds and constant (but not outsized) inflation comparing against a nostalgia currency that stopped inflating years ago, it's exceedingly easy to blame the Euro for making things more expensive. Adopting it often makes central bank policy more challenging. An outright "Euro makes goods more expensive" statement is an oversimplification though, don't take it at face value and always ask for objective inflation data relating to the particular country in question.

RobertoG 10y ago

"currencies that a sovereign Scotland will not control" And that's the key thing. They would be changing masters, probably for the worst. As a former Euro supporter and now Euro sceptic I would recommend them to keep their lead in their own hand.

aetherson 10y ago
But that doesn't seem to be what they want. I agree about being skeptical of being a small, relatively powerless country in a currency union with a much larger economy, but that's the case for them regardless of whether they're on the Pound Sterling or the Euro.
- RobertoG 10y ago
  That's my point. They can't do nothing about being a small country. Their best option is have their own currency.
  - aetherson 10y ago
    But my point is that they don't want their own currency. Also, the EU won't let them have their own currency. So given that that's off the table, the Euro is as good as the Pound for them.
akoncius 10y ago
it's a bit offtopic, but I'm curious why you changed your opinion and became euro sceptic. Could you explain ?
- RobertoG 10y ago
  Sure, I started to read about economy, and I think I have now a good understanding about how the system works. That changed my mind. It's my believe now that my country just give away a very important part of their sovereignty (maybe the most important) to entities that have not our best interest in mind. I would not be against the Euro if I though that the people in charge is on my side. As an example (even if I'm not greek), we have seen the ECB just closing the Greece bank system when they are supposed to protect it. For anyone interested, there are some discussion now about the legality of that movement: https://diem25.org/thegreekfiles/ https://diem25.org/thegreekfiles/

k-mcgrady 10y ago

>> While I understand the truth that staying in the Pound is important to Scottish voters, I don't understand why. I've always heard the argument that things are more expensive in the Euro. I know people in countries where they switched to the Euro and salaries remained the same while prices of goods went up. I'm not sure why this happens (or even if it's true) but it's a reason a lot of people are against losing the pound.

aetherson 10y ago
It seems way more likely to have been the case in economies that were previously on a weak currency (like, say, Italy) than ones on a strong one (like, say, Scotland).
jpetso 10y ago
My Grandma was saying this a lot. With some economic headwinds and constant (but not outsized) inflation comparing against a nostalgia currency that stopped inflating years ago, it's exceedingly easy to blame the Euro for making things more expensive. Adopting it often makes central bank policy more challenging. An outright "Euro makes goods more expensive" statement is an oversimplification though, don't take it at face value and always ask for objective inflation data relating to the particular country in question.