In fact some of the world’s richest nations are members of currency unions. Examples include Hong Kong/Macau and Singapore/Brunei. Then there is the granddaddy of them all, Switzerland/Liechtenstein. Established in 1920 and still going strong, it is an arrangement that neither nation has had any reason to regret. Certainly Switzerland ranks well up among the world’s richest nations, with a per-capita income more than 50 percent higher than America’s. Meanwhile Liechtenstein’s per-capita income at $142,000 at last count was the world’s highest The concept of a currency union is not exactly new in London. As David McWilliams points out, the United Kingdom and Ireland maintained a currency union for many decades after Ireland became independent in 1922. British pound notes circulated interchangeably with Irish pound notes up to 1979, when finally, in preparation for Ireland’s transition to the euro, the Irish pound’s link with sterling was broken. All the evidence is that the arrangement worked well for both nations.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 04:29:54 +0000
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