Monetary cost of war mounts for US

AT a fascinating presentation in Dublin last week, the Vice-President of the European Central Bank Dr. Lucas Papademos discussed the euro’s future, focusing on how the applicant States of eastern Europe will be incorporated into the Eurozone over the coming years, without weakening the reputation or strength of the single currency or the Eurozone.

You may remember our own struggle with the ‘Convergence Criteria’ of European Monetary Union, which stipulated that we had to bring our inflation down to European levels; which forced us to cut our annual deficit to levels below 3% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP); and which dictated that our currency had to remain within a tight exchange rate band for two years prior to the euro’s introduction.

Now Poland, the Czech’s and eight other states must meet these standards if they want to join the Eurozone.