Taravb,
Regarding the Euro pronunciation. I can understand your confusion. I have been here for several days now, and I still struggle with that dipthong that begins the word. I hear it non-stop, as MM said it is on the lips of nearly evryone, yet I still botch this important four letter word with reckless abandond .

[ 01-05-2002: Message edited by: Shawn ]

I think the conversion, while well received in general by the Spaniards, is tough for both the older folks as well as us Americans here who are still grappling with the metric system (me! :)) I am just beginning to learn what fair/reasonable prices are in pesetas for various groceries. Now with the conversion to the Euro, the redondeos (practice of unfairly rounding prices up to have a "pretty psychological price in Euros") as well as the quick metric math, I really am going bonkers!! However, I think it´s a really cool time in world history to be here in Europe,...especially SPAIN!!!

P.S. Madridman, how dare you go to Segovia and not even swing through El Espinar to say hola!!

[ 01-05-2002: Message edited by: Chica ]

I bought a cd for my last Finnish notes at Helsinki Airport on the New Years Day and received a 5 Euro note and some glittery coins in change. The coins look like the markers in roulette or counterfeit but the note is beautiful. It´s quite small though. I´ll save that money as souvenirs - or at least till october when I plan to visit Spain next time . I also have a 25 ptas and a 1 peseta coin in my "memory box" (till death us apart).


In Sweden we still have our own currency, the crown. For me personally it would naturally be better if Sweden started to use the Euro, because it would facilitate SO MUCH comparing prices and travelling, but for the Swedish economy there are some disadvantages. During a slowdown in business activities the own currency is an important and effective implement to reduce the consequences.

[ 01-05-2002: Message edited by: Tia ]

What do you think the Euro will do for the Spanish economy?

At dinner on Christmas Eve, my friend's mother - who was hosting the dinner - told me passionately that the Euro will not raise Spain to the level of France or Germany.

She is no economist, but a Madrileña with a fear that Spain will be hurt by the Euro!?! Is this a well founded fear, or one common among those in their sixties???

Thanks for the discussion...

To start with I should say that I´m not the type of person you describe above (the lady in her sixties). I consider myself openminded and adaptable... and I´m younger .

After reading some information about pros and cons of the Euro in different folders and newspapers I have to the best of my abiliby as a non-economist drawn my own conclusions. The disadvantages poise up.

I really don´t think that the common currency will ruin the Spanish economy, but the country will be more influenced by the decisions in Brussels, the Central Banks in the most powerful Europian countries (or whereever in the EMU they are made) than the Spanish government or other Spanish authorities/interests. I do disagree with the centralizacion and concentration of power.

Hi Tia,

Hopefully, you didn't think I was comparing you to my friend's sixty year-old mother. I should have posted in a more general way . If you had, you sure managed to find some humor in the possibility .

It's refreshing to hear the other side of the argument - the Euro concerns. Sounds like the non-Euro countries are more concerned with the (??) centralization of power.

This is also the reason the US government has no interest in answering to an international court system. I think all proud nations have a problem with loosing sovereign control. For this reason, I have immense respect for the current Euro-nations. They all have strong, separate cultural identities, but have a unified economic vision - let's hope it works!

Tia, thanks for giving this thread another dimension.

As a Brit I am very, very happy that we are adopting a "wait & see" policy with regards to the Euro (even though we'll go in anyway if Labour win the next election).
The benefits are obvious but, at the same time, it is such a massive gamble. We are lucky enough to have had a very stable and successful economy (well, most of the time anyway!) and that has been down to it being managed HERE in Britain. Yes, we have a lot less in common with our European neighbours than they do with each other, eg Spain with Italy, culturally (our LACK of it!), socially and economically. Because of this it is more important to us than it maybe is with other European nations that we are able to make and implement our own economic policy, rather than have a German banker in Frankfurt doing it for us.
Someone made the point that we tend to look to the US moreso than Europe. This holds a lot of truth and if we had to enter into monetary union with anyone, i'd be much more comfortable doing so with the US than with the rest of Europe as we share similar capitalistic (is that a word?!) values, whereas most European nations tend to have a more Socialist outlook.
Although there's alot more wrong with our country (I could go on for hours!) than there is with the majority of Europe, we are doing very well financially - if it isn't broke don't fix it!

With regards to places like Torremellinos which have been taken over by us and the Germans, I hate those kind of places aswell. What's the point???
I can, however, appreciate that not everybody is as adventurous as me and, I imagine, most of the other members here, and they find comfort in the familiar. Isn't it great that they can experience the familiar in such tropical conditions? The likes of us don't have to go there! And besides, the Spaniards in these areas do very well from mass tourism (as do the British & Germans).Would they want to kick all the Brits and Germans out and close all the bars, restaurants and nightclubs that put so much food on their tables and pesetas...sorry, Euro's!...in their pockets??
Like every affluent nation, we have our share of lowlife. American lowlives probably can't afford to travel all the way to Torremelinos, therefore, they're not in evidence. I imagine there are similar places that the cultured American would avoid just as the cultured Brit avoids the Costa del Sol and the Canary Islands (???).

Anyway, I'm no economist, but I am not comfortable with the UK adopting a fledgling currency. Five years from now - who knows?!
I probably won't have any choice in the matter anyway.

An interesting (or sad - depending on perspective) fact of the powerful U.S. economy (and thus - in some ways - the dollar's stability) is our culture's STONG "consumer" habits. We joke that: "...we should just 'buy' our way out of a recession..." But, the punchline is that our (and my) consumerism does keep us economically strong, and the dollar stable.

With this said, anyone have any comments on how such culturally different nations, with different habits and beliefs, might push/pull the Euro????

Or, is it a safe bet that bankers can rule the course of the Euro - doesn't culture play a part...?

Just a few unofficial questions - I'm certainly no economist here...

notyor,

You know, I have heard a lot of brits expressing desire of joining the dollar rather than the euro! Also I have heard lots of you expressing how you would rather be a 51st state than be in the euro! Are you guys hinting at something?

Hehe, all kidding aside, I have seen that opinion on the web a lot. Kinda funny huh.

I wouldn't WANT to go into monetary union with the US, I'm just saying that, given the choice, in certain ways it makes more sense than adopting the Euro.