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The Euro & the Yen
Europe's new single currency, the Euro, has a dream start sice Jan. 1st. For the first time, 11 nations share a common currency, which has been accepted worldwide with enthusiasm. And they say, "We have a good basis for sustainable growth and for the creation of more jobs as well as monetary stability and coopetation between national macroeconomic policies."
Some people say it is too early to prove the utility and the effeciency of economic and monetary union, and that it will take 5-10 years before the Euro becomes a world currency and a new paradigm for the monetary system. But actually the introduction of the Euro will certainly reinforce Europe's position on the international scene, because the total sum of GDP or trading in EU will surpass that in America. And this will lead to the political and defensive dimensions as well.
Taking the reality into consideration that America is too superpower in the world, the concept of economic, possibly political and defensive cohesion in Europe Union sounds rather good, doesn't it? There is no other counterpart of America in those dimensions now, which is not desirable for the world at all. If we allow America to take such superpower, we can not survive without hiding behind the shield of America increasingly.
According to the remarks of Mr. Jacques Delors, who is the father of the Euro, they have a prospect for "federation of national states", which is not similar to the United States but quite an original system, under which the history and the uniqueness of each country - its culture and its identity would be preserved while being reinforced the feeling of belonging to a nation.
Thinking of the complexity of religion, ethnic, and culture in Europe, we can not but remember the proverb "Easier said than done". But, we would like to applaud their ambition to unify the region overcomming such difficulties. This tactics sounds much more intelligent and peaceful than military one.
What will become of the future of the yen if both of the Euro and the Dollar are steadily developed and proliferated? Although Japan remains a big economic potential power even now, we can not be optimistic about the dynamism. Japan is expected to take better initiative or leadership in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and establish more formal relations with more cooperation.
The world's evolution is marked not only by massive globalization, but also by constitution of regional agreements.
In this sence, we do hope Japanese politicians have more intelligence and wider prospective view.
Question 1: Are you optimistic/pessimistic about the influence of the Euro to the Yen ?
Question 2: Could the Euro currency lead to the unification as "a federation of national states" ?
Question 3: What could we do to make the Yen currency much stronger ?
Question 4: Anything about this topic