I was at the post office last weekend and the guy helping me there mentioned that in a few years, we will have the Amero replacing the dollar in the US. Like the Euro, this would be a common currency across the US and its neighbours - Canada and Mexico come to mind. I laughed off his casual comment but it occured to me later that he was only half joking. Not that I am in the habit of taking advice or paying much attention to conversations with people at the post office, but this time, I thought about it and I wonder if the Amero is really a possibility.
The concept behind the Euro is not just a common currency. It is also free trade, a common belief (capitalism), unilateral monetary policies aimed at curbing inflation, a common passport that allows for people to travel to those in the Union without restriction, much like travelling from Los Angeles to Boston for those of us in the US.
So can Mexico and Canada ever get on board with our priciples of capitalism? Canada often has policies that seem to lean towards socialism, while Mexico is years behind the times in terms of providing welfare for its people, sound government and infrastructure. There is a constant want for people in Canada and Mexico to move to the US. So much so that we in the US are constantly debating over our immigration policy. Did these issues ever put in doubt the future of the Euro when the powers of Europe were debating that currency? The answer is Yes. That is why countries like England did not partake in the notion, and countries like Turkey are trying hard to overcome the pre-requisites to enter the Union.
Still, an interesting thought: the Amero ...
-- Faisal Laljee
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