The Euro will not prove workable. A number of European nations are
reluctant participants (that is, the measure was barely approved) while
others (Belgium and Italy) may not meet the stringent requirements of the
Stability and Growth Pact necessary to participate. The centralization of
reserves by participating nations will lead the Union to dispose of "excess
reserves: (ie dollars and gold) which may well do great harm to global
financial stability. Moreover, as Europe continues to expand to include
more of the former Soviet empire, there will be increasingly serious policy
divergences over monetary policy. The whole thing is a house of cards --
smoke and mirrors. A question in parting -- whu did the proponents of this
brain-dead scheme always speak of the cost of currency exchange when the
potential for profitable arbitarge must always coexist?