h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just thought I'd be the first to say it...
I am not at all bothered whether we keep the pound - I don't see that I should be denied freedom from the uncertainty of the currency market for some vague notion of sovereignty.

The name in itself is ugly enough to terrify me. If those idiots up there really
could not think of anything better than ' Euro' , than they certainly are
completely incapable of handling serious matters.

Well, John Major did suggest "florin", but was voted down...

c'mon - it's better than the dollars the rest of the world boringly sticks too...

True enough. One day I hope to have one set of per-day charges and operate throughout Europe - both telecommuting and on site as needs arise. I see the Euro as a step in that direction...
That said, I've already left the UK and set up a company in Ireland so I can't see that my voice will be heard too loudly along the halls of Westminster.

Maybe this is the problem - all the pro-EU people have moved to the EU...

Charge in US Dollars. Then you can have worldwide rates.

In the line of business I used to be in, everything was USD whether you were in the UK, US, any other EU, Japan, Malaysia, Korea.

Because there are so many coins to be dealt with, economics are too busy calculating
to bother us normal folk. If we allow them to regulate the important matters of life
they'll ruin everything we created!

Like Phil says, we are well on the way to a worldwide currency anyway, called the US Dollar. Sooner or later I suspect the euro will stabilise around equality with the dollar, and that will be an end to it.

I never understood why it had to be named anyway. It seemed to me that if you called the same unit a Mark in Germany, a Franc in France, a Florin in Netherlands, a Pound in UK etc etc. (re-valuing the currencies appropriatly) it would have been more widely accepted and all this nonsense about sovereignity would never have arisen. I told at least three people my idea, but I notice it was never taken up, and now its too late!

I do not like the idea. The Americans are already taking over the world at high speed, and let's face it: these folk are far from perfect. They have eating habits which are so unhealthy that in weight they can converge with an average neutron star, they like Jerry Springer and Ricky Lake, and half of the population votes on the Republican Party which never seems to have an opinion except " do not vote on the Democrats" followed by a row of reasons which confirm the general opinion here in Holland that the Republicans have little but air in their heads.

Now I ask you again: do we REALLY wish that sad, misguided people such as the Americans rule the world?

I didnt say it was a good idea, just inevitable, so get used to it. Its between the Americans, the Chinese or anarchy! You can choose.

There are, of course, many jolly nice, well educated, thoughtful and good looking Americans around, some of whom have found their way here to H2G2.

So, don't despair, be brave!

Okay, I'll be brave. But SUBLIMINALLY I remain very worried.

Rats!

Can you explain what a liminal is?

Oh brave new world that has such liminals in it...

You can't catch me like that MRD, I just caught him by the liminals, and if we all do it, it'll end up in an orgy. Not allowed here. (Thinks - maybe the PTB could put aside a room especially for the purpose)

Well, even deep in Red China the Dollar is quite acceptable...of course, you get the appropriate gwailo mark-up when you try and use it but that said it's still pretty cheap.

P.S. I have just spent a fabuluous evening walking around the back streets of Beijing with an expensive looking camera and quite a large (by local standards) quantity of cash without fear of let or hinderance - now I realise its a lot more complicated an issue than just this, but I wouldn't care to repeat that experiment in New York's backstreets!

OK, so you're in China, and using the dollar. Case proven, lets just have the euro come back up a bit to equality, and change it into the dollar.

Your PS is fascinating and true. Confucian (? spelling) based society is more peaceful on a personal level. But does it drive forward. It seems to me that such a respect for elders/family etc is a recipe for status quo. However, the aspirations of the young are surely towards the western (USA) model (Or are they, you tell us, you're there)

Re: the young folks....the women all seem to want to be like the lead female in Greese, and the fellas dress like members of Duran Duran while listening to 90s Europop...needless to say, their parents despair of them.

I think that there are huge difficulties with the world "adopting" the dollar without the global trade/finance agreements to underpin that arrangement...look what happened last time, when the French insisted on getting gold for their dollars which where exchanged by American soldiers based in France. (Short memories, the French? )

I may be old, but not so old I can remember the war! You'll have to explain about gold and the French.

I'm reading that the Japanese are talking about a lost generation. I guess the Chinese may head the same way in years to come.

There are many industries/trades (see Phil before) where the Dollar is already the de-facto worldwide currency (Oil - Shipping - Air Transport - Cinema - its a long list) As the world shrinks (=grows) we are getting a common language, a common pop culture (music & films), common media (CNN, Murdoch), common sports teams (Man U). I don't really see why currency will not also become global.

I do not know about the French either, but I guess that they have been ripped off by the
Americans. Doesn't matter; the French have conquered the Netherlands a couple of cen-
turies ago, so they deserve it!

The US owes us Dutchmen one. It is because of our valiant people they became indepen-
dent! Nearly every name in New York is or was Dutch (Harlem = Haarlem, a town in Hol-
land ; Brooklyn = Breukelen, a town in Utrecht ; the Bronx = founded by Jonas Bronk, a Dutch engineer ; New York was called Nieuw Amsterdam by the founders - yes, all Dutchmen!).
As a thank-you gift I suggest we adopt the Dutch guilder as the worldwide currency.

Our media produce a lot better stuff than their American " colleges" do. The thought that
everytime I turn on the tv I see an American political discussion makes me sick.

Manchester United sucks. Long live Ajax Amsterdam!

Do we sense a little shoulder chip (or two, or three...) here Red.

I'm all in favour of pretty currency, and guilders are nothing if not colourful. The dollar, of course, is not. I suppose, if you are American you can easily handle having all your notes the same, but for us poor foreigners its very confusing.

As mentioned before, if a universal currency were adopted, be it the 'euro' or the 'dollar' or whatever, I see no reason why it has to be called by the same name in every country. Why can't it be called a Guilder in the Netherlands, a Mark in Germany, a Peseta in Spain etc.?