The UK has brought about a great deal of success by bolstering the Euro. I doubt breaking up that relationship would be a good idea right now. I question what is driving that focus.
Page last updated at 13:43 GMT, Monday, 13 May 2013 14:43 UK
Back in the UK (click here) there's a row going on about our role in the European Union.
Tory MPs could force a Commons vote on an EU referendum on Wednesday with former defence secretary Michael Portillo calling for the UK to leave the EU.
David Cameron has accused the group of Conservatives of "throwing in the towel" before negotiations have even started.
What would leaving the EU mean in reality?...
...Last year the UK handed more than 11bn euros (£9bn) to the EU and received about 6.5bn euros (£5.5bn) back - aimed mainly at helping British farms.
However, if the UK ever needed extra money then the amount we gave and received would change.
Leaving Europe would mean that security would be gone....
Currency isn't the problem with the economies of Europe. The currencies are a symptom of the economies and assets of a country. It is not the integrity of the sovereign state of the money supply that is the problem. I find myself wondering if The Fed's programs are adversely effecting global currencies, actually. I find myself thinking Secretary Jack Lew was meeting with Chairman Bernanke for a review of the European currencies.
* Weak retail sales for March keeps BoE easing bets alive* Rebounds in sterling will be sold into
By Anooja Debnath
LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) - Sterling recovered from early losses to rise against the dollar on Thursday but it remained vulnerable after date kept alive the prospects of further monetary easing by the Bank of England.
Retail sales for March fell broadly in line with expectations, keeping the jury out on whether poor domestic demand and consumer spending pushed the British economy into recession in the first quarter.
Markets were forecasting a 0.8 percent fall in retail sales in March due to the unusually cold weather, so a 0.7 percent drop did little to support the currency, which fell to $1.5223, not far from the day's low of $1.5218....
By David Milliken
LONDON (Reuters) - The euro zone's experience of countries (click here) sharing a currency but not a government shows there is no clear case for an independent Scotland to use sterling, Britain's finance ministry said on Tuesday.
The nation of 5 million will hold a referendum on September 18 next year to decide whether to split from the United Kingdom, at the instigation of the Scottish National Party that runs the country's devolved government.
Pro-independence campaigners want Scotland to keep sterling, at least in the early years of independence, and then to decide later whether to switch to its own currency.
But in a report on Tuesday, Britain's finance ministry said there was no clear case for the United Kingdom to agree to a formal currency union with an independent Scotland, which would have an economy of a similar size to New Zealand's.
"The economic rationale for the UK to agree to enter a formal sterling union with a separate state is not clear," said the report, which was prepared by non-partisan civil servants.
"The recent experience of the euro area has shown that it is extremely challenging to sustain a successful formal currency union without close fiscal integration and common arrangements for the resolution of banking sector difficulties," it added....
I think it is correct in that Scotland abandoning the Sterling would be negligible to the Brits. Scotland actually would have a leg up on any currency transfer because it have been solidly linked to the Sterling, a stable currency. So, there would be less problems for the Scots than say Spain when they were converting to the Euro.
It looks as though Secretary Lew is assessing the global currency in relation to the overall picture of the USA. It is one thing to assess the currencies in relation to each other without prejudice of impact, but, Lew needs to have a pow-wow with Bernanki.
Bernanki and Lew need to examine the effect of The Fed's policies on global currency and NONE of it should be planned adversity to any nation. But, they also need to discuss the issue of inflation, too. The Fed and the USA Treasury better have a darn good handle on where inflation will occur and when they have to counter it.
The Brits and Europe have to stop their austerity measures. That isn't getting them anywhere. Europe and the Brits should not be blaming currency stability for their troubles, it is the other way around. The troubles they face effect their currencies. If the currencies are stable but delicate now is the time for Europe to begin reversing the austerity trend. I think austerity might have served a purpose for awhile for Europe, but, reversing austerity will better serve their countries and end the fluctuation in their currencies.
May 10, 2013 at 8:00 AM ET
It looks as though Secretary Lew is assessing the global currency in relation to the overall picture of the USA. It is one thing to assess the currencies in relation to each other without prejudice of impact, but, Lew needs to have a pow-wow with Bernanki.
Bernanki and Lew need to examine the effect of The Fed's policies on global currency and NONE of it should be planned adversity to any nation. But, they also need to discuss the issue of inflation, too. The Fed and the USA Treasury better have a darn good handle on where inflation will occur and when they have to counter it.
The Brits and Europe have to stop their austerity measures. That isn't getting them anywhere. Europe and the Brits should not be blaming currency stability for their troubles, it is the other way around. The troubles they face effect their currencies. If the currencies are stable but delicate now is the time for Europe to begin reversing the austerity trend. I think austerity might have served a purpose for awhile for Europe, but, reversing austerity will better serve their countries and end the fluctuation in their currencies.
May 10, 2013 at 8:00 AM ET
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew (click here) told CNBC on Friday that the U.S. debt ceiling would not be reached until September, though he said it was not an excuse for Congress to relax.
"The debt limit will be reached in just a few days when it expires on May 18 but because of the cash flows we can predict that we will be okay until Labor Day," Lew told CNBC in an interview in London.
"People shouldn't relax, Congress should deal with this right away. The uncertainty caused by putting this off is not good. The anxiety caused to the U.S. and world economy by putting this off until the last minute is not good," Lew said on the sidelines of a meeting of G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors.
The two-day meeting, which began on Friday, is expected to address whether policymakers can do more to encourage a fragile global recovery .
Lew forecast that in the coming 12 months the global economy would continue its recovery but, he said, it required a global, concentrated effort.
"The economy is healing—certainly in the U.S., I think that there are many challenges ahead and in a meeting like this [G-7] one, it's an important time to ask the question what we can all do to create more growth and more jobs."...
It was important for the USA to expand and stabilize it's economy. It is a huge global economy and a stable USA is a strong springboard for other nation's rebuilding. The USA's economy is doing better and the President has lead a valiant recovery. In only a few more years the USA will again have a national debt that is manageable.
The USA had a stagnant economic content before the global economic collapse. The job growth was very sluggish. President Obama has moved mountains to increase small business opportunity while spurring infrastructure spending. He and his administration has done remarkable work. The EU and the Brits need to take their stand on reversing austerity. Reversing austerity will capture marginal growth and build on it.
We know now the Middle Class of The West is the real economic engine to growth. The more currency in the hands of the Middle Class and the facilitating of the Poor to upward movement is the real picture for economic stability. The UK and Europe are in good position to harness that economic engine and begin to regrow their economies. At that point, the recovery of The West will be exponential as Europeans have more money to spend and grow their own cottage business industries. The US and Europe can then begin to trade and encourage tourism that will benefit the economies of each continent.
Basically, it is time Europe to catch the tailwind of the recovering United States. It will begin to counter the drag on both continents economy.
It was important for the USA to expand and stabilize it's economy. It is a huge global economy and a stable USA is a strong springboard for other nation's rebuilding. The USA's economy is doing better and the President has lead a valiant recovery. In only a few more years the USA will again have a national debt that is manageable.
The USA had a stagnant economic content before the global economic collapse. The job growth was very sluggish. President Obama has moved mountains to increase small business opportunity while spurring infrastructure spending. He and his administration has done remarkable work. The EU and the Brits need to take their stand on reversing austerity. Reversing austerity will capture marginal growth and build on it.
We know now the Middle Class of The West is the real economic engine to growth. The more currency in the hands of the Middle Class and the facilitating of the Poor to upward movement is the real picture for economic stability. The UK and Europe are in good position to harness that economic engine and begin to regrow their economies. At that point, the recovery of The West will be exponential as Europeans have more money to spend and grow their own cottage business industries. The US and Europe can then begin to trade and encourage tourism that will benefit the economies of each continent.
Basically, it is time Europe to catch the tailwind of the recovering United States. It will begin to counter the drag on both continents economy.
