Finnish parliament will debate next year leaving euro zone

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: Reuters

Finland's parliament will debate next year whether to quit the euro, a senior parliamentary official said on Monday, in a move unlikely to end membership of the single currency but which highlights Finns' dissatisfaction with their country's economic performance.

The decision follows a citizens' petition which has raised the necessary 50,000 signatures under Finnish rules to force such a debate, probably the first such initiative in any country of the 19-member euro zone.

"There will be signature checks early next year and a parliamentary debate will be held in the following months," said Maija-Leena Paavola, who helps guide legislation through parliament.

The petition - which will continue to gather signatures until mid-January - demands a referendum on euro membership, but this would only go ahead if parliament backed the idea.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/16/us-eurozone-finland-exit-idUSKCN0T518O20151116

[Demeter]

1. And so it begins...the End of the Eurozone, the Euro, and Globalism

as humanity comes to its senses and dethrones the Big Banks and Corporations

[uawchild]

2. Paul Krugman has been saying the Euro was a mistake...

"Are there good arguments against the proposition that the creation of the euro was an epic mistake? Maybe. But the arguments I’ve been hearing lately are really bad. And they’re also deeply annoying.

One argument I keep seeing is that economist critics like myself don’t understand that the euro was a political and strategic project, not merely a matter of economic costs and benefits. Yes, I’m a dumb uncouth economist, completely unaware of the role of politics and international strategy in policy decisions, who never heard of the European project and its origins in the effort to put Europe’s legacy of war behind it, not to mention strengthen democracy in the Cold War.

Well, actually I do know all about that. The point, however, is that while the European project has at every stage combined economic objectives with broader political goals – it’s about peace and democracy through integration and prosperity – the project can’t be expected to work unless the economic measures are a good idea in and of themselves, or at least a non-catastrophic idea. What happened in the march to the euro was that European elites, in love with the symbolism of a single currency, closed their minds to warnings that currency union – unlike the removal of trade barriers – was at best ambiguous in its economic logic, and arguably, even ex ante, a very bad idea indeed."

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/annoying-euro-apologetics/?_r=0

[pampango]

5. Good point. Krugman: I consider the European project, the path of peace through prosperity and

integration, one of the best things to have happened to humanity over the past century. I’ve seen the good work Europe has done in promoting democracy.

My problem isn’t with the Europe Union, it’s with the bad policies that are ripping Europe apart, and with the officials who for whatever reason — intellectual inflexibility, ideological blinders, or, I suspect, sheer personal vanity, an unwillingness to admit that they were wrong — have refused to consider any modification of these policies despite years of disastrous results. And the attempt of these officials to wrap themselves in the mantle of European unity is truly contemptible.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/bushifying-the-berlaymont/

He has been saying for a long time that the Euro was an idealistic, political idea that was not justified by the realities on the ground.

[d_legendary1]

3. Good!

Time to cut the losses and run!

[jmowreader]

4. A central currency only works with a central government and economy

Since the Europeans will never go that way - with very good reason - the Euro was destined to failure from the start.

I hope the mistake they made in imposing one currency on over a dozen independent economies can be fixed or reversed.