One day after the referendum took place in Sweden, anti-Euro campaigners all over the UK express their satisfaction and assure everyone that the UK should and will not adopt the Euro for years to come. But what does this mean for the UK and what does it mean for Europe?
Reading the opinions and polls taken by the BBC yesterday, it was clear to me that most people that voted ‘yes’ were pretty clear as to why they chose to do that. On the contrary, almost everyone voting ‘no’ either claimed ignorance, fear for something new or indifference. Not a single person (out of those interviewed by the BBC Online) had any serious or economically valid comment to make with regards to the ‘no’ vote that they cast earlier that day, although, of course, there are several arguments in favour of this decision.
It seems to me that, both in the UK, Sweden and in other countries outside the Eurozone, the majority of people against the adoption of the single currency are entrenched with politics and erroneous beliefs — most of them completely irrelevant to economics — and fail to see the true potential of the Euro as a European currency. They attach political beliefs, social beliefs and decades old ideology to something new, something purely economical (in the scientific sense), something that, in my view, in the long term will definitely help preserve the culture, society and values of Europe, by keeping/making Europe a stronger economic power in the world arena.
So, it is not a sample of brilliance, just judgement, the superior intelligence, wisdom or knowledge of economics of the Swedish people that voted yesterday and declined the adoption of Euro. It is largely the inherent resistance to change found in all mankind, the inertia associated with moving forward, even if that represents the foundation of the single most valuable long-term hope for European economies in a largely global economy. It is also the lack of real information provision to the Swedish people, some of which were ignorant of the consequences of their vote. The major arguments against the adoption of Euro in Sweden had to do with their already frail social security system, the fear of losing control of their fates to some commissioner at the European Commission and the immediate consequences to the Swedish economies and investments by the adoption of the Euro.
Different countries have different reasons to join or not to join; and with creativity, productivity and action losing their place to bureaucracy, apathy and corruption within the European Commission, I can see how their judgement is skewed.
But we’re living at a crucial time for the future of Europe. A time when Europe can finally become a better place, perhaps the only power in the world with the maturity and wisdom to avoid a new rendition of the catastrophes of the 20th century — something which the U.S. is seemingly moving towards. And we’re just about ready to lose all that because of the people whose actions and opinions are governed by politics and illogical passion and the few individuals who betray the trust of the European people and give the Commission a bad name.
