United Kingdom: Maintaining a 'Balanced' Essay

In Germany, the idea that financially conservative Germans might have to contribute to a bailout of a nation that 'cooked its books' has been difficult to sell to the public, and British politicians would have faced even more criticism, had Britons been forced to shed their beloved pound.

Great Britain can congratulate itself because it did not throw in its fortunes with the unstable euro, although some Britons protested this action at the time. British car manufacturers, for example, feared losing jobs to EU-member nations, and argued that refraining from participating in EU membership would make the cost of labor in Britain seem exorbitant: "Management and unions in Britain's embattled car industry joined forces…to urge changes in key European policies that might keep plants open and save exports and investment which are threatened by the high level of the pound against the euro" (White 2001). Nissan and Ford both stated that Britain's decision to join the euro would be a critical factor in whether they chose to remain in the UK (of course, Ford, due to its own financial woes, was forced to cut back on its international production for other reasons). When Tony Blair was promoting the single currency the Prime Minister was adamant: "Britain will be billions of pounds better off if it joins the European single currency, saving enough money over the next 30 years to pay for the whole of the National Health Service…Britain's more flexible economy would mean that once a member of the euro, the UK economy would outperform its more economically-rigid neighbours," argued Blair (Ahmed 2003). Reduced costs due to a lack of a need for currency exchanges would facilitate trade and travel, it was thought. Today, however, some businesses in the United Kingdom do accept Euros as payment, even though they are not required to do so.

In light of the EU's flagging fortunes, Blair's pro-European rhetoric seems overheated in the extreme.However, despite the many challenges of maintaining membership within the European community, eschewing participation altogether seems unwise. The freer flow of trade and labor is one continued benefit of membership for the United Kingdom. In fact, enjoying the free trade that exists within member nations but not being tied to the unstable euro, which is heavily reliant upon the fiscal policies of a motley crew of European nations, seems prescient on the part of Great Britain. Britain has always had a slightly hands-off view in terms of the potential political as well as economic commitment demanded of full European Community membership. Not being held hostage to the currency woes imposed by other member's debts will be an undeniable benefit for Britain's own fragile economic recovery in the near future. Also, if it should suffer its own financial crisis it currently has the ability to value or devalue the pound as it sees fit.

Works Cited

Ahmed, Kamal. "Euro will pay for NHS." The Guardian. July 20, 2003. May 5, 2010.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2003/jul/20/publicfinances.politics

Bennhold, Katrin. "In Greek crisis, a window into the German psyche." The New York Times.

May 4, 2010. May 5, 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/business/global/04iht-euro.html?src=me&ref=business

George, Stephen. An awkward partner. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Heritage, Timothy. "Crisis Exposes Fragility of European Unity." The New York Times. May 4,

2010. May 5, 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/business/global/04inside.html

Islam, Faisal. "Lessons Britain must take from Swedish euro vote. The Guardian. August 31,

2001. May 5, 2010.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/aug/31/theeuro.europeanunion

White, Michael. "Britain must join Euro." The Guardian. January 1, 2001. May 5,

2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2001/jan/15/emu.carindustry.....