The Disastrous Consequences Of A Return To The Deutsche Mark

[madpenguin]

Maybe.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1270294/Serial-numbers-hold-key-euro-falls-apart.html

Nice little fantasy and mildly amusing but :

1. I have never seen anyone in a bank demanding that their notes get changed because they have the "wrong" serial number, to do so would be akin to swapping your Sterling notes because it bears an older registrars signature.

2. Apart from hermits most people use this weird new invention called "A Bank" which stores your money and savings electronically, strange I know, and the average person won't have more than 100 or so on them in notes, indeed in Holland and Germany nearly everyone uses their Maestro bank cards (same as Visa debit) for everything, I regularly use mine for purchases down to 1 or 2 Euros.

Reverting to their former currencies is a subject you never hear discussed day to day either in public or on tv except by Euro equivalents of "little Englanders" or papers needing to fill space and as for shops supermarkets charging different rates for different registration notes I can imagine the reaction that would get.

Also in the same way Non Frog says the French still think in Francs I have a number of German friends who convert back to the DM "just to check I'm not being ripped off", it is indeed like the post decimalization mentality we had in the UK ("that's nearly 2s and 6d!!!!!")

Edited November 30, 2010 by madpenguin

[Peter Hun]

Nice little fantasy and mildly amusing but :

1. I have never seen anyone in a bank demanding that their notes get changed because they have the "wrong" serial number, to do so would be akin to swapping your Sterling notes because it bears an older registrars signature.

2. Apart from hermits most people use this weird new invention called "A Bank" which stores your money and savings electronically, strange I know, and the average person won't have more than 100 or so on them in notes, indeed in Holland and Germany nearly everyone uses their Maestro bank cards (same as Visa debit) for everything, I regularly use mine for purchases down to 1 or 2 Euros.

Reverting to their former currencies is a subject you never hear discussed day to day either in public or on tv except by Euro equivalents of "little Englanders" or papers needing to fill space and as for shops supermarkets charging different rates for different registration notes I can imagine the reaction that would get.

Also in the same way Non Frog says the French still think in Francs I have a number of German friends who convert back to the DM "just to check I'm not being ripped off", it is indeed like the post decimalization mentality we had in the UK ("that's nearly 2s and 6d!!!!!")

The discussion is about the practicality and cost of switching out of the Euro. Nobody really gives a ****** if anyone is discussing the issue in public, it may become an necessity. The inconvenience is immaterial, its far less hassle than many other countries have endure with currency issues.

Thanks for pointing out that switching the currency stored within banks would be very easy. The number of notes in circulation is small, they have a short (3month) life span so any country could quite easily switch to their original currency at a 1:1 exchange rate (floating) with the Euro. It would be similar to the Pound/Punt situation which had parity and then floated.

[madpenguin]

The discussion is about the practicality and cost of switching out of the Euro. Nobody really gives a ****** if anyone is discussing the issue in public, it may become an necessity. The inconvenience is immaterial, its far less hassle than many other countries have endure with currency issues.

Thanks for pointing out that switching the currency stored within banks would be very easy. The number of notes in circulation is small, they have a short (3month) life span so any country could quite easily switch to their original currency at a 1:1 exchange rate (floating) with the Euro. It would be similar to the Pound/Punt situation which had parity and then floated.

What I was attempting to convey is that is only in forums such as this one or AEP's column in the Telegraph that you here the idea of countries going back to their old currencies even suggested, it's usually followed by "and hopefully the whole EU will fall apart" type comments, ignoring the fact that most people and businesses in Europe like having a currency which you can use anywhere in the EU.

A common currency isn't a bad idea in itself, it's far better and cheaper to fix any structural problems than to change everything back

The original article linked at the start of this thread discusses in detail why reverting to the DM would be an extremely bad idea and most probably destroy Germany economically.

http://www.spiegel.d...,731798,00.html

Edited November 30, 2010 by madpenguin

[Peter Hun]

What I was attempting to convey is that is only in forums such as this one or AEP's column in the Telegraph that you here the idea of countries going back to their old currencies even suggested, it's usually followed by "and hopefully the whole EU will fall apart" type comments, ignoring the fact that most people and businesses in Europe like having a currency which you can use anywhere in the EU.

A common currency isn't a bad idea in itself, it's far better and cheaper to fix any structural problems than to change everything back

The original article linked at the start of this thread discusses in detail why reverting to the DM would be an extremely bad idea and most probably destroy Germany economically.

http://www.spiegel.d...,731798,00.html

Well actually I agree with you, I am a big fan of the Euro. I started the topic..

It will not fail though, no matter what pain is required they will keep it. Fiscal union if required.

[indirectapproach]

"and most probably destroy Germany economically."

Which is about the same as Germany staying in the euro and paying for endless Mediterranean and Irish bail outs.

[athom]

On receipts i got in some French shops this summer i noticed they still tell shoppers how many francs it would have been. I didn't think this was down to nostalgia.

Apart from that i've just scored the last sledge in Christendom. So i don't care about the euro right now.