Hale cooperation!

Read an article in SvD and got upset with the bullshit they published. So after writing a couple of e-mails pointing out the errors they had made, I wrote this.

As the heading indicates, I very much believe in the European cooperation efforts of EU and EMU. When it was time for Sweden to decide whether to join the EMU or not, I did a thorough analysis and came to the conclusion that we should join. Then I joined the Yes campaign and did a very fine job convincing the people on the streets of the benefits of the EU and the euro. Had we had more time we would have won, but unfortunately all the money we got backfired and the neigh sayers won.

Let's start with the arguments. The neigh sayers have no arguments. They sound like religious people when you say there is no god - they can't argument but instead withdraw to a desperate infantile state of aggression. Pathetic. The members of my team even received death threats! As the saying goes - when you run out of words you start using your fists...

There are claims that prices shot up when the euro was introduced. These are false claims. First of all, prices (almost) always rise. What the studies show is that the prices in general did not rise more than normal. Some small businesses used the situation to rais the prices a bit more, rounding up, but this was a marginal action (on eg a cup of coffee). This is a good time for a psychological note: We remember what we want to remember. People who were against the euro noticed only the prices rising, because that proved them right. They failed to notice the not rising prices (and most likely ignored the normal inflationary rise that would have occurred anyway). This is a totally normal behaviour of the human brain, we don't see what doesn't happen (see the coming blog post about the book Stumbling on Happiness for more information in this matter).

Another claim the neigh sayers like is that a monetary union would lead to taxes on an EU level and in the end a super state. That is like saying that a step towards the south would take you to Australia. I wish it was true, but I'm afraid it's not. Introducing taxes on an EU level has nothing to do with the euro, even though the cooperation a common currency needs is a good base for such an evolution. But it will not happen automatically.

When it comes to economical arguments, they don't really matter, as the pros and cons are equally strong. It's true that a small currency is more fragile in tough times (as we certainly see now), but also is it true that a monetary policy of our own would help us better in a crisis. On the other hand a small currency can rush past a big one in good times, and financial policy can be used instead of monetary policy. So forget the tech. Let's get back to basics, politics. Saying no to the euro was to say to the rest of Europe that we don't want to be with you. We're actually a bit better. I don't know what has caused this, but it seems Sweden has always considered itself to be better than Europe, wanting more to be best friends with the USA than with its neighbours. Of course such an attitude fires back, and now as you travel Europe, they don't really give a shit about Sweden. "Oh, you don't have the euro?" they say, not really caring, after all we're talking about a mere 9 million far up in the bloody cold north. Who cares? If we were in the EU, for real, then they would care - we'd be a part of the process that decides the future of Europe. And of Sweden. Because no matter what, we are in fact an intergrated part of Europe, not the 51st state of the USA (thank you Lord!).