NationStates Jolt Archive

Do you think that we will ever have a North American version of the Euro in North America?

I doubt it will happen but I would like it if it did happen. They could call it... the Amero :D

I'm highly doubtful because Europe is made up of so many different countries with similar yet very different cultures and thus, had a large amount of different currencies. The Euro was an easy way to standardize the currency in Europe so there wasn't a huge mass of opposing money floating around.

We got, what, USA, Canada and Mexico? Considering Canada mostly uses US dollars and Mexico the dollar and the peso, we don't need a standardizing monetary system, considering we are but three nations with hardly different currency.

Unless the US has some radical changes, I don't see it. Americans are very...nationalistic.

Isn't that sort of what the US currency already is? You know, 50 states all using the same currency?

Eventually the entire world will be ruled by one government, possibly the United Nations, but I doubt it. We will have one Earth currency.

Of course, this aint gonna happen for thousands of years, but we'll be there eventually. It's the natural progression of human civilization.

No, there are other smaller nations as well. There is Canada, the US, Mexico, Guatamala, Belize, El Salavdor, Honduras, Nicaragua, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, The Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas. Many Spanish speaking countries and 2 or 3 English speaking countries.

How exactly does the Euro work? Who can print Euros? What governs how many they can print? What are the rules regarding interest rates?

I really doubt that it will ever happen. The biggest reason I dont seeing it happen it because each nation would have to agree to certain details, which I do not ever see happen. Besides, the dollar in most of those countries can either be changed into the national currency very easily, or can be used in place of the national currency.

To sum all this up, I see Mexico and Canada being obsorbed into the US before I see this happen.

Eventually the entire world will be ruled by one government, possibly the United Nations, but I doubt it. We will have one Earth currency.

Of course, this aint gonna happen for thousands of years, but we'll be there eventually. It's the natural progression of human civilization.
If we could stop killing each other, maybe you'd be right. Be we just love it so much.

Considering Canada mostly uses US dollars and Mexico the dollar and the peso, we don't need a standardizing monetary system, considering we are but three nations with hardly different currency.

You don't get out much, do you? Not to foreign countries, anyway. If you did, you'd know just how incorrect your assessment is. I could say something derisive, which is what I'm most inclined to do, but I don't think it's really worth the fuss.

I see Mexico and Canada being obsorbed into the US before I see this happen.

And I don't see Mexico or Canada being absorbed into the US ever. So I guess it'll never happen.

Good.

Do you think that we will ever have a North American version of the Euro in North America?

I doubt it will happen but I would like it if it did happen. They could call it... the Amero :D
Actually, it is in the works. Several nations in South America announced in the 1990's that they intended to switch over to the American dollar at some point in the future. Several Carribean nations have made similar statements.
Among nations discussing the possibility of adopting the American dollar and dumping their own are Chile, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuala, Peru, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Brazil (ithink), Jamaica, Grenada, and a couple of ther places in the western hemisphere. They haven't done this yet but it remains a topic at the annual summit of the Americas. But if they do go forward with it, you can bet that the dollar will become alot stronger than the Euro given that western hemisphere has a much larger population than europe does and that the WH population is growing whereas the european pop is shrinking. The difference being due to difference in cultural values where in the America's, the life of the child is highly prized where as in Europe, the right of a woman to have an abortion is held above the right of the child to live. Hence europe has a higher abortion rate but that doesn't explain fully the fact that their pop is shrinking. You also have to account that, unlike Americans, Europeans tend to use contraception more often, and over there voluntary sterlization is not as stigmatized as it is in the states.

I'm highly doubtful because Europe is made up of so many different countries with similar yet very different cultures and thus, had a large amount of different currencies. The Euro was an easy way to standardize the currency in Europe so there wasn't a huge mass of opposing money floating around.

We got, what, USA, Canada and Mexico? Considering Canada mostly uses US dollars and Mexico the dollar and the peso, we don't need a standardizing monetary system, considering we are but three nations with hardly different currency.
Actually, the Canadians have their own dollar.

If we could stop killing each other, maybe you'd be right. Be we just love it so much.
This would be by the time planets are fighting against one another methinks.

The reason the WH nations are talking about switching over to the American dollar, is that their own currencies are basically worthless in comparison. The reasoning is that if they switch to the US dollar their nation's respective products will garner higher prices and hence make their own nations wealthier.
The idea, of course, hasn't been tested so we don't really know if would work or not. Worst case scenario is that they do adopt it but becuase of bad governance or management, the dollar takes a huge fall cause some of the nations' economies collapse.
Course that's probably why Bush doesn't consider it a priority.

Considering Canada mostly uses US dollars and Mexico the dollar and the peso, we don't need a standardizing monetary system, considering we are but three nations with hardly different currency.
Remind me to visit your state sometime and use Canadian quarters in your pop machines....

Remind me to visit your state sometime and use Canadian quarters in your pop machines....

Pop...lol

Well it seems that most people dont think it will happen. :(

We already have the equivilant of the Euro, but since we got it first you should say, will Europe ever have the same thing as the American dollar, but I really dont get what you are saying, unless you mean are the states ever going to break apart more, in witch the case the question should be "Is America ever going to be like Europe in the case of loose countries bounded by currency?" But the current thread is really really dumb.

I'd like there to be one currency for North America, and it may be more likely if the FTAA goes through. Hey, maybe even Canada, the US, and Mexico will be in a political federation one day.

Unless the US has some radical changes, I don't see it. Canadians are very...nationalistic.

Typo fixed.

Not any time soon, since it's much more trouble than it's worth since all currencies are freely convertible (except the Cuban Peso) and the states would rather keep the independence of having each its own currency and central bank.

I also don't see the US absorbing Mexico and Canada. I see a union happening, but it would be more to create a new country, possibly a confederation, than the other two requesting to join the US or the US invading them.

Some countries in South America and Central America have considered pegging their currencies to the dollar, not necessarily adopting the US dollar, to control inflation. But these have always been considered temporary measures. And contrary to what some seem to believe, it has been done before with varying results.

Argentina, Ecuador, México and others have used it, sometimes with terrible results, since economy depends on many more factors than just the strength of your currency or its relative value against the US dollar.

However, several South American countries have anounced today the creation of a South American Common Market, separate and independent from NAFTA or FTAA and this can, in many years, lead to a centralized economy with a common currency and the creation of a new great economic block.

They certainly have the resources, population and, now, political stability to carry it forward; but it won't be easy.

However, several South American countries have anounced today the creation of a South American Common Market, separate and independent from NAFTA or FTAA and this can, in many years, lead to a centralized economy with a common currency and the creation of a new great economic block.

They certainly have the resources, population and, now, political stability to carry it forward; but it won't be easy.

Do you have a link to a news story on that, because it sounds interesting, and I would like to read it.

What's this about WH nations switching over to the US Dollar? How would it work? The countries couldn't print it themselves, so they would just get rid of their own currencies and start accepting the dollar instead, or what?

Remind me to visit your state sometime and use Canadian quarters in your pop machines....

What's even more fun than that is using Phillipino Pesos her in the US. My Phillipino friend gets them all the time and we use them in vending machines and stuff because they're worth about a cent but are the same saize as US and Canadian quarters.

As to the poll, I do not think it will happen anytime soon. European nations all have very similar economies, but in the WH/North America the US would never agree to it due th the economic imbalances between themselves and the rest of the nations, minus Canada which has a large, stable economy. One could argue that population would make the currency stronger than the Euro, but according to 2002 estimates by the UN, the Americas have a combined that is most likely not enough larger than Europe to make a difference.

N. America........................501 (millions)
S. America........................357
Americas (total).................858
Europe.............................727

Bump.

Do you think that we will ever have a North American version of the Euro in North America?

I doubt it will happen but I would like it if it did happen. They could call it... the Amero :D
Nah. Americans and Canadians aren't going to want to share a currency with crappy Latin American countries.

Do you have a link to a news story on that, because it sounds interesting, and I would like to read it.
Yes. Here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4079505.stm

Cool, thanks!

The euro is based on co-operation between countries with different cultures but equally stable and similar economies. In America, there is no such thing, and US Americans. And co-operation with other American countries don't fit into the same sentence. South America is controlled by "dollar imperialism" by the USA, and in such a political climate, there is no hope of actual co-operation of equals. Also, the economies in Southern America are such that the economic reform needed to make the economies similar will simply never happen.

So, maybe one day there could be a situation where one currency, the US dollar, is used America-wide, but that's a very different thing from the euro, a union for co-operation.

I just read a report that the dollar has been gaining on the Euro. Right now 1 Euro=$1.32 Only 32 cents separates them.

"Traders took notice Friday that the dollar finished higher on the day against the euro and broke an 11-week string of weekly losses against the euro zone currency. That fact could pave the way for further dollar gains going into next week, depending partly on Wednesday's U.S. capital flows data."

"By late afternoon, the euro was down 0.6 percent compared with prices in the prior session in New York, to $1.3237 , well below the record high of $1.3470 hit earlier this week.
Kotick said the euro should bounce around a range of around $1.30 to $1.35 until the end of the year. In the new year, however, traders could flip their positions and sell dollars. He predicts the euro will hit a high of $1.40 in 2005."

Those are quotes from the article located here: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041210/bs_nm/markets_forex_dc_44

The difference being due to difference in cultural values where in the America's, the life of the child is highly prized where as in Europe, the right of a woman to have an abortion is held above the right of the child to live. Hence europe has a higher abortion rate but that doesn't explain fully the fact that their pop is shrinking. You also have to account that, unlike Americans, Europeans tend to use contraception more often, and over there voluntary sterlization is not as stigmatized as it is in the states.

1. The Europian population is shrinking, but because families are only having 1 child or so.
2. The Europian rate of abortion (most countries) is less than America's. Get your facts straight. Same with contraception, though they're probably on par.

It's probably just because Europe decided to open its mind and get rid of the useless delusion (officially in government) that is religion, mainly Christianity.

First, I could say that there already is. I've been all over the US, Canada, Mexico, Central America (Belize, Panama, and Costa Rica anyway), and the Caribbean, and everywhere I've gone I've spent my American dollars and had them happily accepted. Everyone knows that US money is good and that it's the most valuable currency in the hemisphere, so few people blink at the idea of taking it over their local currency.

But no, I don't think there will ever be a unified currency, and here's why: The Euro works for Europe because each nation had an established economy with both major imports and exports that benefitted from a common currency. The economies of the European countries, while not exactly equal in scale, had similar traits and were based on well defined markets.

North America doesn't have that. Outside of the US and Canada, most of North America is extremely poor with struggling or nonexistant economies. There is little point in establishing a common currency between two nations like Canada and El Salvador, because El Salvador produces no goods that Canadians want to buy, and the Salvadorans are too poor to afford Canadian goods in return. There's no POINT in a common currency.

The US and Canada could conceivably make a common currency work, but there are a lot of Canadians who resent the US and would see a move like that as a hostile act by the US to "begin their takeover". We Americans, on the other hand, like our "greenback" and would complain about the loss of tradition (something that I believe the Europeans went through). North American politics being what it is, my guess would be that neither government would consider it to be worth the political trouble to even attempt.

They'll call it the Yen. :)

Even if you set aside the nationalistic reasons why Canada and the United States wouldn't want to share a currency (and there are a few), it doesn't even make economic sense. The truth is, it's better for Canada to have a slightly weaker dollar than the USA. Why? Because we make most of our money through exports to the States. If the exchange rate works in favor of the USA, they import massive quantities from us. Were we to have a higher dollar, we would make more money on each transaction taking place, but the deterent to import from Canada would cause use to lose money overall. The current situation works perfectly well for both countries, and we both come away winners. What reason is there for us to adopt a common currency?

(And the idea of Canada and the United States forming any kind of Union with Mexico and the Central America's is fairly unrealistic. It'd be like the EU including half of Africa. We're simply too culturally and economicaly disparate.)

How exactly does the Euro work? Who can print Euros? What governs how many they can print? What are the rules regarding interest rates?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro