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Prosperity

Thank you for participating in the Dialogue on Foreign Policy. The interactive web site is now closed. The Minister's report will appear on this web site once it is released.

This Forum is bilingual, and participants post messages in their language of choice.

A Global Common Currency

Contributor: Montag

Date: 2003-04-16 02:56:57


How should Canada take advantage of its location in North America to increase prosperity while promoting our distinctive identity?

We should use one to achieve the other. Canada is a unique two nations identity(french and english) so we have opportunities in both continents (america and europe). Our trade is too important in the USA so we must diversify our trades to stop beign so dependent on them.
But if we trade with Europe, we gona trade in Euros, and the Euro is getting to be a stronger currency than the USDollard. There is a good chance that the current actions in Irak was related to this as for Saddam Hussein began using the Euro to trade oil with Europe. Such a move on currency by the other oil producing countries would be disatrous for the US. It's $6 trillion debt is only sustainable by the wide US currency usage. Now Russia, Germany and France are still sitting at the same table and you can bet they are talking Euro.
Myself, owning a small internet business, am shooting the Europe market and will be dealing in Euro.

What is the Department view on this important issue?
Will the USA see us as trators if we start using more and more Euro?

What should Canada do to help make the benefits of globalization more widely shared within and among all countries?

Same thing here. Poor countries will never be able to get benefits from globalization if they must trade with the inflated currencies of the richest countries.
Globalization demands a Global Common Currency.
If Canada can start promoting this, that would be great.

Or else, we will be stuck doing a delicate political balancing act between USA and Europe.

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A Global Common Currency

Contributor: codc01

Date: 2003-04-16 13:34:26


"Globalization demands a Global Common Currency. "

I respectfully disagree with this sentence. Money is a symbol of National soveregnity (a bit like out flag), at least it is for me, and I wouldn't like it for Canada to lose its identity...

And on a more practical side, who would set the bank rate? If one economy goes better than the others, then what would the central bank do - forget that single economy and lower the interest rate, even if it will provoke inflation in the country which has a good economy??

Canada is in this position today, we have the strongest economy of the G7, and this is reflected in our prime lending rate by the Bank of Canada. What would happen if there was a global currency?


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