The Euro, In Or Out?

      Many people question whether the joining the Euro has any major benefits, and ever since the economic meltdown more people seem to believe against it. However surprisingly the euro hasn’t lost a single member, and is continuing to add them. Estonia joined last year,with  Latvia and Romania joining soon after. So why are all these countries joining a currency that seems to be slowly dying ?
     There are many benefits of joining the Euro with one of the major one being  the reduction in transaction costs .There will be no  cost involved in converting currencies;which is of benefit to both firms that trade in Europe , and also to Tourists travelling around Europe. The Single currency would also hopefully encourage competitiveness between firms. This is due to "Price Transparency" where all goods and services across Europe can easily be compared due to the fact that there is a single currency; helping reduce prices for consumers.
    However there is similarly a case against joining the Euro. Being part of this currency would mean that all members share a common interest rate, thus countries lose control through their monetary policy. Interest rate set for the whole of Euro-land will not be ideal for all eleven countries due to the different economic situations across the countries. A rise in the interest rate would also cause the mortgage repayments consumers  on variable mortgage to rise. Therefore this would reduce their disposable income , so consumption would fall and could lead to a large fall in Demand for an economy.
        Gordon Brown made the decision over ten years ago to not join the Euro and it looks as George Osborne is unlikely to campaign against the decision anytime soon.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/9959819/Even-now-after-all-thats-happened-to-Cyprus-theyre-queuing-up-to-join-the-euro.html