>But the question I want to pose here to Doug and others is what is the
>significance for world economics of the succesful launch of the Euro? To be
>more specific, what will be different one year after the launch of the
>Euro, what five years afterwards?
If it "works," a serious rival to the dollar's role as world reserve currency. Also, domestically speaking, an almost certain Americanization of European financial and corporate structures, meaning a greater role for stock markets, a freewheeling takeover market, heavy shareholder pressure on firms to cut costs and hold down investments, meaning looser labor markets, weaker welfare states, and greater social polarization. Of course, Europeans may rebel against this agenda and derail it, but if they don't, shareholder rights will become the most important rights of all.
Doug