Should European Nations drop Euro?

Fire of Liberty

With the French and Dutch demonstrating their disgust towards the EH Constitution by overwhelmingly voting it down earlier this week, it has allowed an opening of for the euroskeptic voices throughout Europe. Probably one of the most interesting euroskeptic voices so far has been from Italy's welfare minister Roberto Maroni, who has called for Italy to scrap the euro and return to using the lira to re-energize the economy. According to this piece in The Financial Times, Snr. Maroni presented this call for the return to the national currency in a recent interview in the Italian daily La Repubblica. Now this might upset the pro-EH block within Italy like the center-left politician Romano Prodi and members of the current center-right government but if you take a look at Maroni's statements in La Repubblica, he has a good point. Just look at what he said and decide for yourself:

"It's been three years now that the euro, not through its own fault but because of those who managed the move to the single currency, has shown that it's not capable of dealing with the slowdown in economic growth, with the loss of competitiveness and with the employment crisis," Mr Maroni said.

"Isn't it perhaps better to return, temporarily, at least to a system of a dual circulation of currencies [the euro and the lira]? In Europe there is a virtuous example, and it's Britain, which is growing and developing, maintaining its own currency," Mr Maroni said. "A cry for help is coming from citizens."

From the looks of it, Maroni could begin a anti-euro campaign that might attract a larger audience than the elites seem to think. You only have to look at the most recent election in the Netherlands to see that there's a strong discontent towards the euro and its negative effects on the national economies. Whether its France, Germany, Holland or Italy, the nations that have seen a steadily decline in their economies and the purchasing power of the euro because they have ceded all monetary decisions to the European Central Bank (ECB) which have huge effects on their fiscal policies. Now its true that these economies are in a slump because they're mired in a socialistic welfare state mindset that leans heavily on high taxes, increased spending, excessive regulation but they still lack the freedom that the British, Danes and Swedes and several Eastern European nations enjoy by being out of the euro-zone and the control of the ECB.

While a single currency is relevant to a single nation, it becomes an absurdity when you try to apply this on a massive grouping of nations. No matter how much the elites promote their cookie cutter economic model and its single currency, the various nations will have varying problems and goals than the next guy. Once again, the idealistic nature of the EH has gone well beyond the reality on the ground in these nations, which is that sovereignty is far more important to a nations survival than a one size fits all model. They can keep this charade up about how great the euro is but if you asked someone in the streets of Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam or Rome, they'll express the same negative sentiments towards the euro like MP Maroni. Maybe it's time for the Europeans to think about returning the control of their nations destiny back to their respected capitals before it's too late.