the economy

[Sheridan]

so today in the states our DOW fell again by quite a few points so I was beginning to think about the state of my economy and that of the world.
when it dawned on me, the euro. it has been a little while since the euro was instituted (didn't it start at the new year) and I was wondering if any no-future boarders who live in countries that use the euro have seen any change in your economic structure.
how exactly was the euro supposed to propell the european market, and has it done anything it was designed to do?? just curious if anyone had any ideas.

[marcel]

it didn't made our lives better up to today,
just a lil bit inflation.
the future will bring it if the euro will be strong or weak

i wonder if the uk people are sad or happy to have not the euro??

[V Knid esq]

On the whole recession = good music (or new romantic nonsense, of course)

[jamyna]

Another little known fiscal equation:

Inflation
Death of Garage = Beats for Eats

[old skool]

Originally posted by marcel
it didn't made our lives better up to today,
just a lil bit inflation.
the future will bring it if the euro will be strong or weak

i wonder if the uk people are sad or happy to have not the euro??

I'm sad not to have the Euro but I'm only speaking from my world where I find it a pain in the arse to have to change my cash when going abroad, and have to convert my sterling to Euro's when I want to buy a cd from Ebay.de (where you can get fucking bargains !!!)

But I'm not up on the actually 'economic' benefit the Euro would have on the UK apart from reading horrible news stories where businesses are having to let workers go because the businesses in the UK are not using the Euro.

I'm pretty ashamed I don't know any more about the Euro and I should read up on it.

Anyone else from the UK have any opinions ??

[andyroo]

You can also find some serious bargains on groovetech.com, they are going to have a sale through the whole of august of their colossal back catalogue - music to suit all tastes.

let your friends know how to beat inflation

[Lady E]

ignoring that blatant and annoying advert for groovetech's sale...

i would like the euro BUT i dont think having our economy governed centrally from europe is a good idea. this is the eventual plan and i think that would be disastrous.

[jamyna]

I used to be schizophrenic but now I'm not so sure? I'm so split down the middle I just don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Before 9/11 I was anti-euro (semi-ignorant fear of the unknown), post 9/11 I was pro-euro (when it seemed to spell a choice between associating closer with Europe, or the US), and now I think we should should all go back to trading livestock. But yes I agree that federalisation is potentially very dangerous. Does it all tie in with a soon-to-be-unified age of mass-control? Or is that just paranoid, and I should be embracing this new age of Europeanism, in a time where civil liberties sometimes have to be sacrificed in the name of freedom? 8-()

[public]

it's only money, it's not real.

[wired]

...it made our live more expensive... all the politics said it's better, all is gone cheaper, etc... but only words. no facts. fact is that nearly everybody knows that you get less things for your money. everytime i go shopping i see that some is getting expensiver. not cheaper. ok, some shops put their prices down after the euro... but there nobody says that the rised the prices at last summer, only to put them nice-looking down after the euro...
often the shops changed only the DM-sign into euro,... they rised their prices from 0-300%...
would you pay 1,50 euro's for a ball of ice? last year it costs 1DM = 0,51ct... now sometimes more than 1,50...
if anybody wants to visit germany to eat nice italian ice... go to erfurt (thuringia)... there it costs 50ct...

the only thing that is good on it is that i could buy records in other countrys and pay in my own currency... i could look at the price, don't have to calculate the actual price in the other country...

i hate it that 50euro's left my moneybag in the same time than 50DM one year before...

[erik_s]

eur i probably a good tought, but i don't belive in it in reality. a step away from the 3rd world. i think greedy and wealthy capitalists are the first to take advantage and make profit of theese changes in economy.

[RicardoM]

just think over the psychological aspect: there are 12 countries which introduced the euro n 11 of them have a conversion rate of more than 1 of their old currency. That shouldn`t be a problem on the first view cause it`s worth the same. But: All the peopz get less wages. i think there`s an important psychological border. when a normal worker gets less than 1000 euros it means that he only earns an amount with 3 digits. a manager or chairman doesn`t care but the distance between them and a worker is increasing in their minds. this is causing social tensions and shortly a bad situation for the economy. everyone turns a euro twice and that`s changing the behaviour at purchasing. the whole business gets instable for the first few years of the european currency. they politicians had to introduce it now cause the wanted to create an expanding economy based on increasing the exports to countries outside the eu and the trade inside the eu. the more time goes by the harder it gets to change the whole currency and vat system inside of the european union. now it means 3-7 bad years for the people in the eu. but when the people r not satisfied with their situation they`ll try to change and find new ways to make money. that`s just a part of the economical evolution. just remember the theories of economy. the chart of the development is filled with ups and downs. but viewed over a long time period its goin up. the intention of the politicians has just been the globalization of the trade. short: to go with the flow, even if we don`t like.

knowledge is the highest good we have.

[Sheridan]

but with the advent of the euro was that really intended to say, encourage people to travel to other parts of europe? as wired said he can go to different countries and buy records with his own currency. is that more of the intent, to spread the market and tourism to europe? and is this supposed to create a unified europe? as I have heard speculated.

[grobelaar]

Its all trade and commerce, the real and hidden cause of wars and misery...

I hope that in a few hundred years time, we may look back on this era as one of complete and utter lunacy, a new dark age of capitalism...

or then again maybe we won't look back in a few hundred years...

A Calorific Economic System is the only way human society can balance a global economy and stop the planet from being totally consumed. Sadly this is only a concept for professors and science fiction writers...

[erik_s]

true... true... :)

it certainly looks and feels like that anyway.

please explain further about the calorific system.

[gunjack]

Originally posted by andyroo
You can also find some serious bargains on groovetech.com, they are going to have a sale through the whole of august of their colossal back catalogue - music to suit all tastes.

let your friends know how to beat inflation http://newbie.tscentral.net/images2/stfu.jpg

[grobelaar]

Originally posted by erik_s
true... true... :)

it certainly looks and feels like that anyway.

please explain further about the calorific system.

Put simply its a more ecological friendly way of balancing the system, everything is valued in terms of calorific (energy) input and output.

For example its well known that the massive farm machines they use for intensive western farming, actually cost more energy to build and maintain than they can ever hope to harvest in food during their operational life. So they are an example of an unsustainability.

Kim Stanley Robinson, explores the ideas in his series of novels on colonising Mars. I've only read the first one Red Mars, where it is mentioned that as Mars is a much more hostile environment, then balancing the books so to speak is that much more critical.

Many ecologist maintain that for the good of the planet we should have a zero-growth economy, naturally such a notion is totally out of the question to your average capitalist, who will no doubt start spouting rubbish about infringement of civil liberties and freedom. All fine highbrow notions, but given that most of the individuals that make up our society have no sense of social responsible, let alone showing any signs of excercising any then perhaps we are not worthy to have such high ideals as those that are laid down in the US Constitution for example...

Hmmm, heading into the somewhat more right-wing theory that Robert Heinlein raised about citizenship having to earnt, which isn't too bad an idea, although I'll be buggered if it involves national service... :-)