I find his argument persuasive but I do not fully agree with him. On the one hand, outside of the euro, we would probably react to this crisis by devaluing the Punt to boost exports, especially given that deflation makes it relatively safe to do so without the risk of rampant import-inflation. On the other hand, the longer-term picture would be one in instability for Irish and multinational exporters/importers to/from the State. What we do need though is a revisitation of the single-interest rate. For 10 years, we have had a monetary-policy determined by the interests of France and Germany rather than Ireland, and it cannot be credibly denied that this has been a catastrophe for our property-market, being a key factor in our recession being worse than most other EU states (though it was even worse in Spain - which voted yes to the EU Constitution/Lisbon - where unemployment is now 17% - 4 million people). However, this questioning attitude to European integration increases my hopes that he can yet be brought over to the no campaign in Lisbon II.

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.