No, I was answering your assertion that the debate had been wholly economic in that part.Sassenach wrote:I did put a smiley in to show I was moving toward sarcasm. Perhaps you've been here too long to notice levity?
Fair point. I wasn't really offended of course, but you know that I'm sure. Nevertheless though, it is a bit daft to make the point that political union has always been the driving force and then try to make out that me making that same point is some kind of conspiracy theory.
I detect now a fair chunk of exaggeration: "As such I can only conclude that they knew full well that a common currency without common economic governance was doomed to fail and planned all along to bring it about. The Euro was sold on a lie." seems to be a lot stronger than the re-working in your latest post.Perhaps I've not made my poit very clearly (or maybe I've exaggerated). What I think is that the architects of the Euro knew full well that a common currency without common economic governance could never work. I tend to the view that they were aware of this but pushed ahead anyway because they calculated that at some point the economic imbalances would force a situation whereby they could introduce greater centralisation of economic policy and the people of Europe would be be willing to go along with once they'd come to realise that the alternative would be economic hardship. I don't think they really anticipated such a major crash or really thought this plan would result in rampant unemployment and the like, and obviously the same people are no longer in power in the EU. Nevertheless though, I do think the Euro was almost entirely a political rather than an economic project and that to some extent it was built to fail.
And this is my problem with Eurosceptics - not that they don't have a point, but that they can't help making it without exaggeration or ascribing the worst motives to those they oppose. It's not exactly conducive to rational debate.
I understand what you are saying. I have to say there is a point, but there were economic as well as political reasons for a single currency. It makes trade a lot easier, for a start.