CONTINUOUS - SEE ARTICLES AT www.helium.com  relating to "Single Global Curency," "monetary union," "currency", etc.  See endorsed topics at the Single Global Currency Assn. "Partner" page at www.helium.com/partners/sgca

21 June 2008.  "An Economist Who Matters - The weekend interview: with Robert Mundell" by Kyle Wingfield in the Wall Street Journal.

Excerpts from the article....

   ...As for the euro's overvalued status, he forecasts deflation in Europe, along with a slowdown and an end to its housing boom. The answer, he suggests, is for the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank to cooperate in putting a floor and a ceiling on both the euro and the dollar. "You have to grope" to the appropriate range, he maintains, but a good starting point would be to keep the euro between 90 cents and $1.30.

   Even better, in his mind - and now we're really talking long term - would be to have a global currency. This could take the form of a new money or a dominant existing one to which all others are fixed - probably the dollar. "As Paul Volcker says," Mr. Mundell relates, "the global economy needs a global currency."

   To get there, he proposes holding a new, Bretton Woods-type meeting in 2010 at the Shanghai World's Fair. Mr. Mundell, who has been spending "a lot of time" in China advising the government, says reviving an international system of fixed exchange rates would be a tremendous help to Beijing as it tries to fend off demands from U.S. and European politicians that it appreciate or float its currency. ...

      Another part of his solution is for Asian countries to form their own currency bloc. If they did so, he says, "it'd be comparable in size to the European and the American bloc. And then it would not be so much the question of . . . the U.S. and Europe bashing China" or other rising economies.

   These three currency blocs, he predicts, would be large enough to weather wide swings in their exchange rates. But the swings would still do economic damage, so "the best thing you could do is to stabilize them, and that's where the global currency comes in."

    Could it happen? Mr. Mundell allows that three decades may pass, but predicts that like the euro and the Reagan revolution before it, the global currency's time, too, will come. Any skeptics might want to review the last few decades before betting against him.

   18 June 2008. "Experts embrace a currency union" from AME, about the GCC 08 Conference, with presentation by Single Global Currency Assn.

Excerpts from the article...

   In a joint presentation, Mr. Russell Krueger, on leave from the International Monetary Fund, and Mr. Erwin Nierop, Senior Official from the European Central Bank, focused on the efforts in many regions to create currency unions. They spoke about how the economies of the countries joining the union could be affected, the legal framework, and the process of changeover.

   'An impressive line up of speakers at the GCC Currency Forum 08 raised expert debate about the economic and banking developments required to converge the currencies' said, Allard Marx, Managing Director INCIDE, the consulting firm that registered a world currency sign in 2002. He emphasised on the implementation and acceptance of such a major change and to show how the process could be helped by visualising an outcome ahead of time.

(See also, "Latest News" "Latest news" on this website.)

17 June 2008. "Despite Irish Vote, the Euro Remains Strong"  by Mark Landler in the New York Times

Excerpts from the article...

   But the angst has not spilled into the currency markets, where the euro — perhaps the most tangible symbol of European unity — rose against the dollar Monday, the first full day of trading since the results of the Irish vote were announced.

   That is a marked change from three years ago, when the rejection of a proposed European constitution by France and the Netherlands deeply rattled the euro. At that time, some experts questioned whether the currency could survive without a more unified Europe.

  Few people are saying that today, a testimony not only to the resilience of the euro but also to a widening belief that the European monetary union can function without an accompanying political union.

   “Any poll in Ireland would show massive support for the euro, but not for political integration,” said Philip R. Lane, professor of international macroeconomics at Trinity College in Dublin. “The question is, do you need political integration for a functioning monetary union?”

  The answer, for the most part, is no, said Professor Lane, adding that “monetary policy is essentially a technical exercise, when delegated to an independent central bank.”

 

10 June 2008.  "Time Overdue for a World Curency" by Hossein Askari and Noureddine Krichene in Asia Times. 

  Excerpts from this groundbreaking article...

   A world central bank is becoming a necessity in a global economy. Such an independent central bank, not subject to the political whims of a particular government, would be more likely to apply orthodox and safe central banking. Contrary to any country's central bank, a world central bank would have no obligation to accommodate budgetary deficits, war spending, domestic wage and price rigidities, speculative asset bubbles, or rescue ailing domestic banks. Its law should be as meticulously applied as any constitutional law of a Western democracy....
    The world currency note will circulate along with national currencies, serve as a reserve asset, and become part of the international payments system.
By becoming a full-fledged reserve asset, a world currency would cushion the real value of international reserves against inflationary policies of reserve currency centers and wide fluctuations in exchange rates....

 

3 June 2008. "Dollar crisis looms, China ponders reform-Mundell"  by Jason Webb, Reuters.

Excerpt from the article....

 

1 June 2008. Ezine article by Hans Bool, "Towards a Single Global Currency?"

  The article begins...

  Some initiatives or ideas count on direct acceptance. Then the problem is: how do we do it, is the project feasible? Other ideas might be feasible but count on resistance from the day they get announced. To me, a single global currency would fall in the second category.

   I was just imagining how the financial crises would evolve when there was only one global currency and one central bank. It could have been better, but it also could have been worse.

   In my opinion a single global currency is both not feasible nor desirable.
[Hans Bool gets credit for at least thinking about the idea of a Single Global Currency even if his conclusions are short sighted.]

26 May 2008.  "South America eyes common currency"  from Thomson Financial News at Forbes online.

The article begins....

    BRASILIA (Thomson Financial) - South America is thinking of creating a common currency and a central bank along the lines of those in the European Union's euro-zone, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday.

The idea is a logical next step following the signing last Friday of a teaty creating a Union of South American States that aims to promote joint regional customs and defense policies, Lula said during his weekly radio broadcast.

8 May 2008.  "Slovakia gets the go-ahead to adopt the euro" by Carter Dougherty, International Herald Tribune.

The article begins....

   The European Commission on Wednesday approved the application of Slovakia to adopt the euro as its currency on Jan. 1, 2009, completing a fast and furious transformation that brought the small country from dictatorship to thriving market economy in less than a decade.

   Slovakia will become the 16th country using the euro.

8 April 2008.  Harvard Professor and former IMF Chief Economist Kenneth Rogoff writes article in the Lebanon Daily Star, "Has the moment come to replace the U.S. dollar?"

Excerpts from the article...

   Of course, if the dollar were to fall off its perch as the world's dominant currency any time soon, the euro would be the only serious alternative. The yuan may well supplant the dollar in the second half of this century....
    As central bankers and finance ministers ponder how to intervene to prop up the dollar, they should also start thinking about what to do when the time comes to pull the plug.

 

3 April 2008."The Fed's Revolution" Article in BusinessWeek by Peter Coy and Michael Mandel contains Paul Volcker comment re: Single Global Currency.

Excerpt from the article......

   The possibility that a primarily domestic crisis could quickly become global highlights the need for international cooperation. Former Fed Chairman Paul A. Volcker, who broke the back of high inflation in the early 1980s, told BusinessWeek on Mar. 19: "If you have a closely integrated world economy with free trade and free movements of capital, the logical complement of that is a global currency."

21 March 2008.  See COMMENTING ARTICLES (PRO AND CON) at www.helium.com on Barry marcus's article below (17 March 2008).

17 March 2008. E-Article by Barry Marcus at Helium.com "Could a single global currency work?"

The article begins...

  "A single global currency has a few advantages over the current system of 190 separate currencies in circulation in the world. The first of these is that it would eliminate huge volumes of global currency trading and the considerable costs associated with this. Currency speculation which has at times resulted in quite spectacular currency fluctuations would become a thing of the past. Of course it follows that currency fluctuations would end. It can also be expected to bring about greater stability to world trading conditions.... "

[See Barry Marcus's blog for more articles and thoughts about currency and the Single Global Currency.]

25 January 2008.  In "The Dollar's Decline: An Expert Speaks Out" Ted di Stefano interviews Morrison Bonpasse in E-Commerce Times.

The interview begins with two questions....

Ted di Stefano: Why do you and others support the creation of a single global currency?

Morrison Bonpasse: Briefly, it will save the world the equivalent of trillions of dollars and greatly reduce the risks to the international economy currently posed by the existing multi-currency system.

di Stefano: How would it save the world trillions of dollars?

Bonpasse: The most straightforward savings would come from the elimination of foreign exchange trading. Currently, the equivalent of US$4.2 trillion per working day is traded. This costs the world approximately $400 billion per year. Other savings would come from the elimination of the need to maintain low-return foreign exchange reserves....

13 November 2007. Speech by Nicholas Garganas, Governor of the Bank of Greece,  "Does One Size Fit All?" The speech was given at the Central Bank of Chile on 12 October 2007.

He concluded....

    "To conclude, the euro area has indeed come a long way. The success of the single currency has demonstrated that one size can fit all. Such has been the success of the euro area that it has given rise to considerations, still at an early stage, of regional currency arrangements in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Nevertheless, much more needs to be done to ensure that the euro area becomes a more dynamic force for growth in the global economy on a sustainable basis. It is my view that the experience of the euro area to date only serves to highlight the fact that a currency union requires more flexibility in factor and product markets, and greater competition than do independent monetary areas. Flexible markets and strict fiscal rules are not just superfluous conditions for members of a monetary union. They are necessities that make monetary union work by providing the adjustment mechanisms that the one size fits all monetary policy cannot." [emphasis added here]

9 November 2007.  Canadian party advocates common currency with U.S.  from Reuters.

The article begins....

   OTTAWA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - A political party that advocates the separation of Quebec from Canada pushed on Wednesday for a union of the two North American dollars as a way of easing the pressure on exporters from the surging Canadian currency.

   Paul Crete, the lead finance spokesman for the separatist Bloc Quebecois, which elects members to Canada's Parliament only from Quebec, said the manufacturing and forestry sectors were already struggling with an economic crisis and did not need big swings in the Canadian-U.S. exchange rate to add to their woes.

   "Adoption of a common currency would make the life of our exporters a lot easier," he said.

   Morrison Bonpasse of the Single Global Currency Assn. attempted to post the comment below on the version of the story appearing on Canada YAHOO!

    Instead of monetary union with the U.S., Canada would do more for itself and the world by supporting a Single Global Currency, managed by a Global Central Bank within a Global Monetary Union. (See www.singleglobalcurrency.org)

    The implementation of a Single Global Currency will save the world approximately $400 billion in foreign exchange transaction costs, and will eliminate currency crises and balance of payment problems and eliminate all currency fluctuations.

It's Common Cents.

19 September 2007. According to Poll, "Majority of Poles Want Euro"  from www.thenews.pl.

The entire article...

   The latest opinion poll conducted by GfK Polonia shows that 59 per cent of Poles are for the replacement of the Polish currency – the zloty - with the Euro and 27 per cent are against.

   Seven per cent had no opinion on Poland's accession to the Euro Zone.

   More than half of respondents (51 per cent) believe that Euro should be introduced within 4-5 years.

  Poles can see the following positive consequences of the introduction of the common currency: easier travel within the Euro Zone (58 per cent), closer association with Europe (28 per cent) and an increase in the number of foreign investments in Poland (27 per cent).

   Poles are mainly afraid of an increase in prices in the initial stage (61 per cent), deterioration of families' welfare (47 per cent) and difficulties in getting used to the new currency (46 per cent).

   But there was indication that Poles have more to learn about the single currency.

   Twenty two per cent do not know what institution is in charge of monetary policy in the Euro Zone and 43 per cent do not know how many states have adopted the common currency.

   The opinion poll was conducted among a sample of one thousand respondents above 15 years of age across Poland.

10 September 2007.  Ratnam Alagiah, member of the SGCA Board of Directors, writes REVIEW of The Single Global Currency - Common Cents for the World, in the Australian journal, JAMAR, Vol. 5 Number 1, Winter 2007, p. 69.  JAMAR is the Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research.

Excerpts from the review...

   "... a refreshing approach to the problem in accounting [of fluctuating international currency values] is the introduction of a common currency across the globe.  Clearly, the solution lies in not inventing yet other methods in accounting for inflation but to change the very basis of the measurement of transactions. That is, to change the currency.  With the implementation of a common currency across the globe, all companies in all countries will use the same currency, and therefore the same measure in recording transactions, based on the same accounting standards...

   I recommend the book to all accountants, and challenge accountants to help implement what is the next generation of accounting."

11 August 2007. "Europe Offers Strong Case for Single N. American Currency" by J. Collin Dodds, Halifax News

The article begins....

  The concept of a single currency for North America has reared its head again. There is no doubt that a single currency would be more efficient for Canada , as we have close trade and investment relationships with the U.S.

  Those engaged in the movement of goods, services and capital cross border would not have to worry as they do now about the short- and long-term volatility of the currencies and the costs of hedging the currency exposure. As we know from recent experience, the Canadian dollar can move sharply on a day-to-day basis and over time, the movement can be very significant, particularly against the U.S. dollar.

27 July 2007. IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato speech: "Capital Flows in an Interconnected World"

He said in his paragraph #5:

   Of course, financial globalization also has risks, for investors and for the countries in which they invest. Over the last few months I have on several occasions cautioned about some of these risks: stemming from global imbalances and from increased protectionist sentiment; from carry trades across various currencies; and from the lack of information about the exposure of financial institutions, including hedge funds, in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market. My aim in drawing attention to these risks is not to predict disruption in global financial markets, but to forestall it. By taking timely action, governments and regulatory authorities in industrial countries can protect their investors and markets. And countries which are the recipients of large capital inflows can protect their economies from the consequences of market disruptions.

[What he didn't say in his presentation is that the best long term way to avoid many international risks is to move to a Single Global Currency managed by a Global Central Bank within a Global Monetary Union. See email to Mr. de Rato  from the Single Global Currency Assn. Sergio Cardenas, of the Public Affairs Division of the IMF responded on 6 August 2007.  "Dear Mr. Bonpasse,

Thank you for your recent e-mail to Rodrigo de Rato. It has been circulated to the offices of the Managing Director and Deputy Managing Directors, and also to the Monetary and Capital Markets (MCM) and Policy Development and Review (PDR) Departments.

Best regards, Sergio.]

 

21 July 2007. Ted di Stefano writes "A Single Global Currency" in E-Commerce Times.

Excerpts from the Article...

   Of course, no one can predict if or when a worldwide currency consolidation will happen. Presently, we are seeing gathering strength in currency zones such as the dollar, euro and yen. There certainly is consolidation going on because it makes international trade a lot more efficient and seamless.

   My best guess is that we'll see more consolidation of currencies, but I wouldn't dare guess when or if we'll see a single global currency. I'll leave that to the mavens like Mr. Morrison Bonpasse. Even if his goal of a single world currency by the year 2024 is optimistic, the prospective benefits warrant further research and planning now, rather than later.

[Ted di Stefano is a member of the Board of Directors of the Single Global Currency Assn, which he fully disclosed in his column.]

19 July 2007. "Mirror of the Boom" Editorial from the New York Sun.

Beginning and ending paragraphs...

    These columns are ever ready to raise a cheer at the milestones of American prosperity. New highs in the Dow or in the Manhattan real-estate market are, to us, markers of the progress of the age. Quibbles, we leave to others — though, there is one thing. The yardstick by which these triumphs are measured is getting shorter. The dollar is setting 15-year lows in the world's currency markets....

      So while we glory in the soaring New York real estate market and the Dow nipping over 14,000 on intra-day trading, let us not forget the mirror image — the shrinking Bush dollar.

[In response, the Single Global Currency Assn wrote a letter "The Single Global Currency - The long term solution to currency fluctuations"  The letter begins, " The long term solution to many of the world's financial problems and risks is to implement a Single Global Currency, within a Global Monetary Union where there will be no such currency fluctuations and no current account imbalances and no currency crises...."]

11 July 2007.  National Public Radio (U.S.) interviews Benn Steil for segment, "Is a World Currency Realistic?" (audio file)

The NPR summary:

Morning Edition, July 11, 2007 · In a recent article in Foreign Affairs magazine, economist Benn Steil says most national currencies should be eliminated because they end up being manipulated by politicians, and do more economic harm than good.

The interview begins...

[See SGCA Comment which was sent to NPR through its website utility.  Also, the remainder of the 787 word transcript can be purchased from NPR.]

10 July 2007. "Cyprus, Malta to join euro"  By AOIFE WHITE in Business Week.

Excerpts from the article...

   The European Union gave Cyprus and Malta final approval Tuesday to start using the euro next year, taking to 15 the number of nations sharing the currency.

   Diplomats said finance ministers had voted to allow the two tiny Mediterranean nations to join the currency zone on Jan. 1. They were also to set the exchange rate for the Cypriot pound and Maltese lira as the two currencies are swapped for the euro, but details were not immediately available.

   Cyprus and Malta will bring just over 1 million people to the 318 million who now use the euro. Their economies account for only 0.2 percent of euro-zone gross domestic product.

   Cyprus and Malta worked hard to meet the strict EU economic standards for euro nations, with Cypriot workers agreeing to calm wage demands that could hike inflation while Malta paid off debt to cut its budget deficit below the EU maximum of 3 percent of gross domestic product.

   Both entered the European Union in May 2004. Only one other country that joined the EU at the same time -- Slovenia -- has so far adopted the euro.

   The largest of the EU newcomers -- Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria -- have yet to set a date. Estonia had originally planned to join next year but will delay membership as its growing economy sees inflation surge, a problem that has also slowed Latvian and Lithuanian plans. Slovakia is scheduled to join in 2009.

   To keep their shared currency stable, euro nations are also supposed to keep overall public debt below 60 percent.

2 July 2007. Former U.S. Presidential candidate, Jesse Jackson, urges common currency for Africa.  from "A US of Africa must exert moral authority: Jesse Jackson" at www.rawstory.com.

Excerpts from the article...

   A United States of Africa which is being debated by the continent's leaders must exert moral authority and address the problems on its doorstep, former US presidential hopeful, Jesse Jackson, said Monday....

   Jackson also called on Africa to consider the creation of a common currency as part of any moves to forge closer unity which could carry weight outside the continent.

   "They need a common currency. With the exception of the (South African) rand, no African currency has value in the north," he said.

29 June 2007. "IMF managing director De Rato to step down in October" by Peter Kasperowicz, from AFX News, in Forbes.

Excerpts from the article...

   WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - International Monetary Fund Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato will not serve the full length of his term, and will resign in October, he said in a statement today....

   De Rato oversaw a change in IMF policy on currency monitoring that was announced last week, although many critics in the US said he was not aggressive enough in policing undervalued currencies.

[Hopefully, the new Managing Director will want to focus on the long term strategy for the IMF, including the Single Global Currency.]

27 June 2007. Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director of the IMF, "Expanding world economy is risky business"  in the Globe and Mail on 20 June.

Excerpts from the Op-Ed....

   The world economy is set to grow again for a historic sixth year, spurred on in no small measure by financial markets and cross-border movements of capital in recent years. But recently risks have been on the rise, particularly in financial markets...

   One of our central objectives at the International Monetary Fund is to promote international financial stability. Working with other international bodies, the organization plays a key role in international discussions on these issues, and is deepening its work on them....

   As financial globalization grows deeper, so do the risks that turbulence in one country's markets might spill over to others. The IMF is focusing increasingly on mitigating these risks. At the same time, it is also helping to integrate developments in financial markets and the financial sector into economic analysis, with the aim of reducing the frequency and severity of financial crises....

[Mr. de Rato's concern about international financial risk is well-placed, but he has said nothing about a long term plan to reduce that risk - with a Single Global Currency.]

25 June 2007. "Time for a single Caribbean dollar"  by Sir Ronald Sanders in the Jamaica Observer.

Excerpts from the column...

    Serious attention has to be given to the creation of a single currency by the countries of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) that earlier this year signed an agreement to establish a single market...

    A monetary union and a single currency in the countries of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) would be a boon to commercial operations in the region from the smallest trader to the largest corporation.
    It would also be a delight to multi-destination tourists and to the ordinary Caricom citizen travelling from one country to another.

Caricom countries need look no further than within their seven smaller member states, the countries that comprise the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), to witness some of the benefits of a currency union and single currency.
    In the OECS countries, cross-border investment has increased; the currency is the strongest in the region, transaction costs for business is less than they are with other Caricom countries, and the people of the area are able to travel without the burden of having to change their money...

21 June 2007. Bloomberg Columnist, Mark Gilbert, writes of hypothetical move to Single Global Currency, "Granddad, Did You Believe in Central Banks Once?: "

After world financial crises, the boy asked his Granddad ...

   "I've been meaning to ask you, Granddad; what are all those funny little rectangles of green paper in that big frame on the wall next to your desk?''

   "They're called dollars,'' Granddad said.  "We used them to buy things in the olden days. In 2015, a group called the Single Global Currency Association convinced the Bank for International Settlements, which by then was running the world's financial systems, that everyone should switch to one type of money.''

   "And they didn't choose the dollar, Granddad?''

   "No, Joel. There was a global referendum to make the decision on which currency people wanted. Which is why we now use the yuan all around the world. Anyway, it's getting late. Back to your Mandarin homework, young Master Bernanke.''

19 June 2007. "Rwanda, Burundi sign East African Community deal" by Tim Cocks, Reuters, Africa

The article begins...

   KAMPALA (Reuters) - Rwanda and Burundi officially joined the East African Community (EAC) on Monday, signing accession treaties that will expand the regional economic bloc to five nations and boost trade.

   Officials said their entry into the EAC, alongside Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, would be effective from July 1.

   "I would like to welcome the two new members of the East African Community. We hope to make this combination of five countries a big success," said Kenya's president and outgoing EAC chairman Mwai Kibaki at the signing ceremony.

   Rwanda and Burundi hope to benefit from an EAC customs union, which began setting common external tariffs for goods entering the region in January 2005.

   The move would also allow the tiny central African neighbours to join a planned political federation, including a common market for the region's combined population of 110 million, a monetary union and a common president and parliament by 2010....

13 June 2007. Indian political party has long supported Single Global Currency. (Now is supports new global calendar, too: See "Uniform global calendar : Dravida Peravai supports uniform global calendar" in Asian Tribune.

   Dravida Peravai's party manifesto registered with Election Commission of India advocates single global currency to end the supremacy of dollar.People laughed at it when it was mooted in an article by Nandhivarman in an English weekly New Times Observer in the year 1994.

   Europe started with different currencies but today with single currency Euro, Europe has reached a common market, whereas in India we started with single currency namely rupee but we have not become one common market, lamented India's former Finance Minister Yaswant Sinha in a personal meeting with him.

   Euro had challenged the might of the dollar regime and the day for single global currency to end economics of speculation is not far off. The next logical step would be to begin with single Asian currency....

 

13 June 2007.  New British Petroleum (BP) Chair mentions "Single Global Currency" in article, "BP chief backs carbon trading"

    In an article about a global carbon emissions market, Mr. Tony Hayward said, "Nobody can doubt that financial markets are now global and that there is a global market in equities, commodities, futures, options, foreign exchange and bonds. Yet all these markets started off in individual countries, sometimes just in small localities, and grew up without the need for a single global currency" he said.

[However, he was partially wrong.  Even if it is true that finanical globalization is ongoing, there still IS a need for a single global currency. It would make thje world financally safer and more prosperous.]

1 June 2007. "71% of Maltese feel informed about euro"  from Maltamedia news.

   The article begins....

   71% of citizens  feel they are "rather well" or "very well-informed" about Malta's changeover to the euro currency. The result emerged from a Eurobarometer survey on the introduction of the euro in the new European Union states.  

   In the last similar survey held by the European Commission, only 38% felt they were rather well or very well-informed about the currency. The Maltese's increase in self-perceived euro-related knowledge is believed to have come about through the campaign tied to the introduction of the common currency.  

   However, the self-reported level of information does not necessarily coincide with actual levels of knowledge. Although 71% of Maltese said they  were well informed about the euro only a minority at 28%, was able to correctly say how many countries there are in the eurozone . This indicates that citizens appear to be less interested in the global aspects of the European Monetary Union (EMU), though they seem to be content if they are well informed about the changeover scenario.    

   The survey also found that 98% of Maltese believed the country would adopt the euro currency by 2008....  

  

1 June 2007.  Support for Single Global Currency from Investors Daily Edge by Dr. Russell McDougal.

   "Sooner or later, I believe we will see a global currency, likely a conglomerate of the dollar, euro, and Asian currencies. It may or may not be backed by anything of substance. Central banks no longer hold silver and their gold holdings are beyond suspect. Power is typically consolidated out of chaos."

31 May 2007.  MSNBC "How the little guy can score playing currencies - Foreign-exchange trading is risky; consider trying a mutual fund" by Jeff Brown.

The article begins...

   Vacation in Europe this summer and you'll be shocked at what things cost. Today a dollar is worth about 0.74 euros, down sharply from about 1 euro four years ago. The fall has virtually unbroken since early 2006. In fact, the dollar has been losing value against many major currencies since early in the decade.

   Most experts blame the U.S. trade and budget deficits, which cause Americans to send dollars overseas, increasing the amount of money in circulation that drives down the price.

   The rate at which one currency is exchanged for another is governed by supply and demand in the 24/7 global currency markets, where an estimated $3 trillion changes hands every day through forwards, futures, spot trades and other transactions....

[emphasis added here.]

22 May 2007.  "Dodge says single currency 'possible' "  by Barrie McKenna in the Globe and Mail. 

The article begins...

   WASHINGTON -- Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge says North America could one day embrace a euro-style single currency.

But to get there, Canada, the United States and Mexico must first tear down barriers to the free flow of labour, which he pointed out yesterday have "gotten a bit thicker" in recent years.

Answering questions from the audience after a speech in Chicago, Mr. Dodge said a single currency was "possible."

The idea of a common currency has long been a subject of curiosity, particularly among Canadian academics, who see it as a way to escape sharp gyrations in the exchange rate....

16 May  2007. from the Christian Science Monitor:  "Many Countries - One Currency  For kids: It's common 'cents' – these countries share the same currency."   by Wendy Watson.

The article in "kidspace" begins...

   Have any Euros in your pocket – coins, that is? If you have traveled recently to Europe, to any of the 13 member countries of the European Union or a few smaller states that have adopted the currency, perhaps you do. The countries are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain.

   All these nations except Slovenia, which adopted the euro earlier this year, have used the euro as their currency for about five years. It was introduced into circulation Jan. 1, 2002. Instead of all countries having their own coins and bank notes, as they used to, they now share a common currency.

9 May 2007. "Goodbye U.S. dollar, hello global currency"  by Jerome R. Corsi in WordNetDaily.

The article, mostly about Benn Stei's article in Foreign Affairs, begins...

   The director of international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations has launched a scathing attack on sovereignty and national currencies.

    Benn Steil, writing in the current issue of CFR's influential Foreign Affairs magazine, says "the world needs to abandon unwanted currencies, replacing them with dollars, euros, and multinational currencies as yet unborn."

3 May 2007.  "Split Over Fees Hampers Move To Modernize Currency Trade" by Katie Martin in the Wall Street Journal.

The article begins...

   LONDON -- The foreign-exchange market is still suffering from data overload after the board of currency-settlement network CLS Bank International couldn't agree on how to change its fee structure if it moves to consolidate users' trades.
The New York-based firm, which acts as the plumbing behind the $2.5 trillion-a-day global currency markets, has come under pressure from ...
[Thus the WSJ has seconded the $2.5 trillion estimate for daily foreign exchange trading as was published in 2006 in The Single Global Currency - Common Cents for the World.]

29 April 2007. "The End of National Currency"  by Benn Steil in Foreign Affairs magazine, April/May 2007.

Summary [from FA magazine]:  Global financial instability has sparked a surge in "monetary nationalism" -- the idea that countries must make and control their own currencies. But globalization and monetary nationalism are a dangerous combination, a cause of financial crises and geopolitical tension. The world needs to abandon unwanted currencies, replacing them with dollars, euros, and multinational currencies as yet unborn. [emphasis added on this website.]

Other excerpts...

     Governments must let go of the fatal notion that nationhood requires them to make and control the money used in their territory. National currencies and global markets simply do not mix; together they make a deadly brew of currency crises and geopolitical tension and create ready pretexts for damaging protectionism. In order to globalize safely, countries should abandon monetary nationalism and abolish unwanted currencies, the source of much of today's instability...

    Since economic development outside the process of globalization is no longer possible, countries should abandon monetary nationalism. Governments should replace national currencies with the dollar or the euro or, in the case of Asia, collaborate to produce a new multinational currency over a comparably large and economically diversified area.

[See 17 July 2007 letter to Foreign Affairs from SGCA members, John Edmunds and John Marthinsen which states that the vast increase in European and worldwide asset values is a major reason to encourage currency unification.]

  

24 April 2007.  "UNESCO Ambassador welcomes common currency proposal "  in the Sri Lanka Daily News.

   COLOMBO: Madanjeet Singh, UNESCO's Goodwill Ambassador and founder of the South Asia Foundation has welcomed President Mahinda Rajapaksa proposal to establish a common currency for South Asia.

   In a letter to President Rajapaksa, Ambassador Madanjeet Singh has congratulated him for his proposal for a common currency for South Asia made at the recently concluded 14th SARRC Summit held in New Delhi.

   Ambassador Singh's letter states the Governing Council of the South Asia Foundation is happy at this proposal, because at their annual general meeting at UNESCO House, Paris, held recently, “they too had recommended a common currency called the ‘Sasia', with a hope that it will become the anchor of economic stability and regional cooperation like the Euro.

23 April 2007  Public Opinion Poll in New Zealand and Australia: "Your Views: Should we have an Anzac dollar?"  from the New Zealand Herald

The article begins.... (and two reader comments are included)..

   A new poll says half of New Zealanders want a common transtasman currency.

   The UMR poll reveals 49 per cent of New Zealanders favour a shared dollar, against 41 per cent of Australians.

This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic....

   Sergio Rodriguez de Lima Souza
    Ultimately there is no need for separate currencies: one single global currency would do nicely, with prices set by demand for products and services. On the way to get there, neighbouring countries should team up and combine currencies. For practical reasons, we should also include the Pacific islands in the Australian dollar zone. Later on, we would need an Asian dollar, which would have all of South-East Asia and our region covered. And so forth...

Ray Eyre
    I am not in favor of a trans Tasman currency. I am however in favor of a global currency. It is so simple to go Global. All the world leaders need to do is introduce a global currency valued on the American dollar. Give each Yank a dollar for dollar swap. Give the Aussies a swap at a rate that depicts the dollars value, Give the Kiwis a swap at a rate that depicts our dollars value. Do the same to the rest of the world. Say a American earned $1000 a week, the Aussie would earn $805.41, The Kiwi would earn $661.71. Each country would be able to purchase goods at a global dollar value from any other country. Where is the problem in going global? There is no problem, the answer is so simple.

22 April 2007 10-member Economic Cooperation Organization in Asia, "ECO Central Banks Network (ECBN) soon launched: Governor SBP " from International News Network

The article begins...

   Karachi: Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Shamshad Akhtar has announced to set up an ECO Central Banks Network (ECBN) aiming at promoting banking in Asian countries and enhancing mutual interests in member states of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).

   She said this while addressing the first meeting of the heads of Central Banks of Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Member States here on Monday.

   Dr. Shamshad said that the bank would star working from June 2007 with the name of ECO Trade Bank.

   This network would focus on exchange of experiences and information on economic and monetary policy, greater cross border cooperation on Anti-money laundering and explore opportunities for harmonization of standards and systems, where feasible.

   She said that Pakistan, Iran and Turkey had approved the establishment of Trading Bank, while initiative work on the project would be started very soon.

   Governor SBP stressed the need for setting up a Monetary Union of Asian countries in line with European Union for economical progress in the region.

[The member countries are: Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. See ECO website at http://www.ecosecretariat.org]

22 April 2007 Nigerian President "Obasanjo calls for common currency in Africa"  in Vanguard Online.

The article begins...

   President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for the introduction of a common currency in Africa to enhance trade relations in the continent. Speaking while inaugurating the Enugu branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) today in Enugu State, Obasanjo said this had become necessary in order to eliminate trade barriers created by the absence of a common currency.

15 April 2007. Sri Lankan Headline: "G7 mulls global currency, hedge funds, amidst Wolfowitz scandal"  from Lanka Business Online.

[The headline was inaccurate, but some day, the G7 or G8 or G-whatever WILL, in fact, contemplate a Single Global Currency, and the sooner the better.]

8 April 2007 "One World Currency and Why It Matters"  from Mark Warner's Blog.

   Many world economists see a time in the not so distant future when National Currencies are merged into one or a few. It makes sense considering the massive electronic flows of the money. Of course some nations are very concerned with this as no one wants to be on the losing end of the stick and get trapped with mass devaluation or hyper inflation after the switch-over.

   When talking about One World Currency or the move closer towards that there are many things to consider indeed. Sure that makes sense eventually to have only a few or one currency in the long-term. For instance; maybe an Asian Dollar, Euro w/Australia/Japan/England joining in, US Dollar used throughout Western Hemisphere, Middle East-African Dollar. Then merge either Asian Currency with Euro or US with Asia, then when you have 3 merge them to one. Have supercomputers monitor the flow of money to insure stability?

   This would be the best for humanity in the long run, although there are issues with a Global Currency Collapse in that case right? An "Earth Unit" or "Dollar" would make long-term sense. Earth Unit might even be better and more stable for an Earth Citizen, it also crosses cultural divides of what types of things people value. What are your thoughts on One-World Currency?

   These are very tricky discussions when it comes to a nation's currency, as everyone wants control. However, with World Trade things are moving faster and closer together and the debt on the currency needs to be set to the flow of the currency and not specifically to the nation borrowing the money.

   Otherwise we will have continuous mini-economic collapses of emerging nations and currency crashes of first world nations. That does not serve the people or the bankers and certainly adds to the changes of civilization collapse. In reality no one wishes to discuss this, but in the future something must be done to shore up the risks being created in the present period, abstractly thinking of course."

30 March 2007. "Cypriots oppose Cyprus entry to EMU by 51%"  in the Financial Mirror, Cyprus. 

The article begins....

   Less than a year before Cyprus' entry to the EU' Economic Monetary Union (EMU), Cypriots oppose by 51% to the adoption of the Euro, the EU's single currency, according to ''Cyprusbarometre 2006'' survey, carried out by RAI Consultants on behalf of the Laiki Group.
    According to the survey Cypriots oppose by 51% the accession of Cyprus to the EMU, recording an increase of 10% compared to 41% of the 2005 Cyprusbarometre.
    Furthermore, as Cyprus is getting closer to the date of accession to the EMU on January 1 2008 Cyprus, Cypriots disagree with the EU single currency. In 2002 Cypriots were opposing the Euro only by 25%, whereas this figure rose steadily to 27% in 2003, 45% in 2004, 49% in 2005 and 54% in 2006.
    The Cypriots believe that Cyprus' entry the EU will have negative effects to the unemployment rate and inflation with 79%, followed by the competitiveness of the economy with 67%, financing cost with 60%, the fiscal deficit with 57% and tourism with 27%.

30 March 2007.  Book about North American Monetary Union on Short List for $35,000 Donner Prize in Canada.  "Ninth annual Donner Prize shortlist announced "  

Excerpts from the press release....

    TORONTO, March 29 /CNW/ - The finalists for the 2006/2007 Donner Prize, the award for best book on Canadian public policy, were announced today by Allan Gotlieb, Chairman of the Donner Canadian Foundation. Mr. Gotlieb said, "Last year, the Toronto Star wrote 'Donner-winning books tend to have far-reaching influence on government and industry.' This year's first-rate group of finalists all tackle key issues that we hope will have policy makers taking notice."...

   Many believe that Canada's deepening economic integration with the United States and the worldwide trend towards currency blocs will eventually lead to a North American monetary union. In this excellent analysis of Canadian exchange rate politics,[Towards North American Monetary Union? The Politics and History of Canada's Exchange Rate Regime] Eric Helleiner challenges this view and finds little support in the U.S. for the concessions that would be necessary to make a North American monetary union palatable in Canada. Towards North American Monetary Union? is a fascinating book that explores Canada's unusually strong commitment throughout the twentieth century to a floating exchange rate for its national currency - a commitment that Heilleiner argues is likely to endure. Eric Helleiner is CIGI Chair in International Governance in the Department of Political Science, University of Waterloo.

(In April 2007, it was announced that the book won the Donner Prize. See "2006/2007 Donner Prize winner announced")

28 March 2007.  "Reign of the Dollar" by Prof. William Silber in the New York Sun.

Excerpts from the article...

  Is the dollar about to lose its dominance as the international currency to the euro?

  Not any time soon, despite the dollar's vulnerability.

Today the euro lacks the credibility to unseat the dollar.

America's record of free capital markets, the rule of law, and the maintenance of price stability strengthens the dollar's role as the unparalleled safe haven currency.

    In response, Morrison Bonpasse wrote the following comment: "We should begin planning for a Single Global Currency"

   Instead of a continuing struggle to see which national or regional currency is THE preeminent international currency, the world should begin planning for a Single Global Currency. The euro is now used by 13 countries in the largest, most successful monetary union in history, and the number will soon grow to 22. Why not develop a monetary union for the 192 members of the United Nations and eliminate the need for foreign exchange reserves, eliminate the problem of imbalances of payments, eliminate the annual $400 billion in foreign exchange transaction costs, and eliminate the risk of currency crises? The goal of the Single Global Currency Assn. is a Single Global Currency, managed by a Global Central Bank within a Global Monetary Union by 2024, the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Bretton Woods Monetary Conference. See www.singleglobalcurrency.org. We should begin planning now.

27 March 2007. Martin Wolf writes in the Financial Times: " The pain in Spain will follow years of rapid economic gain"

Excerpts from the article....

    Do current account deficits matter inside a monetary union? The answers are “no” and “yes”: no, because there cannot be a currency crisis; and yes, because there cannot be a currency crisis. Where unsustainable divergences in competitiveness emerge, adjustment occurs largely through changes in relative nominal costs, particularly of labour. The bigger the required adjustment, the greater the pain....

    For Spain, better times for the eurozone presage a much bigger challenge to itself. Adjustment to a different and more sustainable path will be required. A decade or so from today we should have a far better idea than today of how far one of Europe's hitherto most successful economies is able to thrive within the straitjacket of the currency union.

25 March 2007. "Reverse Foreign Aid" by Tina Rosenberg, New York Times Magazine.

Excepts from the article...

   For the last 10 years, people in China have been sending me money. I also get money from countries in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa — really, from every poor country. I'm not the only one who's so lucky. Everyone in a wealthy nation has become the beneficiary of the generous subsidies that poorer countries bestow upon rich ones. Here in the United States, this welfare program in reverse allows our government to spend wildly without runaway inflation, keeps many American businesses afloat and even provides medical care in parts of the country where doctors are scarce....

   Increasing the transfer of capital from rich nations to poorer ones is often listed as one justification for economic globalization.

   Historically, the global balance sheet has favored poor countries. But with the advent of globalized markets, capital began to move in the other direction, and the South now exports capital to the North, at a skyrocketing rate. According to the United Nations , in 2006 the net transfer of capital from poorer countries to rich ones was $784 billion, up from $229 billion in 2002. (In 1997, the balance was even.) Even the poorest countries, like those in sub-Saharan Africa, are now money exporters.

   How did this great reversal take place? Why did globalization begin to redistribute wealth upward? The answer, in large part, has to do with global finance. All countries hold hard-currency reserves to cover their foreign debts or to use in case of a natural or a financial disaster. For the past 50 years, rich countries have steadily held reserves equivalent to about three months' worth of their total imports. As money circulates more and more quickly in a globalized economy, however, many countries have felt the need to add to their reserves, mainly to head off investor panic, which can strike even well-managed economies. Since 1990, the world's nonrich nations have increased their reserves, on average, from around three months' worth of imports to more than eight months' worth — or the equivalent of about 30 percent of their G.D.P. China and other countries maintain those reserves mainly in the form of supersecure U.S. Treasury bills; whenever they buy T-bills, they are in effect lending the United States money. This allows the U.S. to keep interest rates low and Washington to run up huge deficits with no apparent penalty.

   But the cost to poorer countries is very high. The benefit of T-bills, of course, is that they are virtually risk-free and thus help assure investors and achieve stability. But the problem is that T-bills earn low returns. All the money spent on T-bills — a very substantial sum — could be earning far better returns invested elsewhere, or could be used to pay teachers and build highways at home, activities that bring returns of a different type. Dani Rodrik, an economist at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, estimates conservatively that maintaining reserves in excess of the three-month standard costs poor countries 1 percent of their economies annually — some $110 billion every year. Joseph Stiglitz, the Columbia University economist, says he thinks the real cost could be double that.

   In his recent book, “Making Globalization Work,” Stiglitz proposes a solution. Adapting an old idea of John Maynard Keynes, he proposes a sort of insurance pool that would provide hard currency to countries going through times of crisis. Money actually changes hands only if a country needs the reserve, and the recipient must repay what it has used.

[A better answer is the Single Global Currency, which would eliminate entirely the need for foreign exchange reserves, and also remove the incentive to move money from high currency risk countries to lower currency risk countries. See SGCA Letter to the Editor in response.]

23 March 2007.  Letter to the Editor, Portland (ME) Press Herald: "Global trade needs common cents"

23 March 2007.  Mark Leonard predicts euro as global currency.

   Mark Leonard is the author of "Why Europe will Run the 21st Century." He recently commented on an International Herald Tribune article, "Quotes on Poll," about a European Union 50th Anniversary poll, that

   "This poll should cheer them up. It shows that Europe's citizens expect the EU to repeat its trick of peaceful regime change in the East through enlargement -- creating a eurosphere that covers a quarter of the globe. They think Europe could help save the planet by freeing itself from fossil fuels. And the euro could become a global currency. Instead of creating presidents and constitutions, EU citizens expect the EU to become a transformative power on the world stage."

23 March 2007. Indian Prime Minister: "Time not ripe for common Asian currency"  from the Times of India.

The article begins....

    NEW DELHI: India on Friday said a common currency for Asian countries, similar to the Euro for European nations, was still a few years away and would require more coordinated efforts on part of all the participants.

  "I do not believe that time has arrived for the common ASEAN currency like Euro," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at an event here.

  A common Asian currency would require more coordinated efforts and may become a reality in near future, he said.

  Apart from ASEAN members, the Asian Development Bank has also considered a plan to create a regional currency unit --before introducing an actual currency -- that could bring down exchange rate volatility among member countries and give a momentum for the regional bond market.

  Despite its potential benefits to ASEAN members and Japan, China, South Korea as well as countries like India, the idea of common Asian currency has not made much progress due to various technical and political obstacles.

  Singh pointed that common Asian currency would require coordinated efforts and removal of various obstacles.
[The good news is that the highest leaders of Asia are considering the issue.]

16 March 2007. "A customs union among Islamic countries? What good news"  by Prof. MUSTAFA ACAR  in Today's Zaman, Istanbul.

Excerpts from the Op-Ed....

   An interesting item about some prospective economic cooperation projects among Islamic countries appeared in the press a few days ago.

   "OIC member states took a first step towards a ‘customs union'” (Zaman, March 12, 2007): The piece reported that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was preparing to initiate a "preferential trade” regime among its member states from Jan. 1, 2009. One step further down the road was customs union and even a “common market.”

   Common market, which adds free movement of production factors -- labor in particular -- across member states on top of the customs union. Monetary union implies adoption of a common currency by the member states in addition to the common market. Finally economic union means adoption of common fiscal, monetary, financial and commercial policies and common rules of competition within the region.

11 March 2007  "Global Economic Cooperation or Bust"  by By Jose Antonio Ocampo, United Nations Under Secretary General, and Rob Vos, Director Development Policy and Analysis Division of the U.N. Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs.

Excerpts from the article:

   According to estimates by the United Nations, the global economy expanded by 3.8% last year, con