Euro on the brink of collapse

[Martinus]

In hindsight, wasn't it kind of dumb to institute one currency over a bunch of economies whose needs may be in conflict with each other?

How's that? Don't US states have their own economies that often are in conflict with each other too?

Yes, to some extent.  However, people can freely move from depressed states to booming states, and do so, which lessens the need for distinct monetary policies.  I don't think moving from Greece to France is as easy as moving from Michigan to Texas, for many reasons.

There are no legal barriers to doing so. I guess language is the only real barrier that differs compared to the situation in the US but beyond that it is possible.

[DGuller]

There are no legal barriers to doing so. I guess language is the only real barrier that differs compared to the situation in the US but beyond that it is possible.

That's a pretty big barrier, not to mention social barriers.  When you go from Greece to Germany, for all intents and purposes you are an immigrant.  When you move from Michigan to Texas, you're still pretty much at home.

[Martinus]

There are no legal barriers to doing so. I guess language is the only real barrier that differs compared to the situation in the US but beyond that it is possible.

That's a pretty big barrier, not to mention social barriers.  When you go from Greece to Germany, for all intents and purposes you are an immigrant.  When you move from Michigan to Texas, you're still pretty much at home.

Well, someone going from Kentucky to New york would be subject to great social barriers too I guess.

[Iormlund]

DGuller is right. Language is a very big barrier. People in small countries do speak very good English, but for the population of most big countries that is a huge obstacle.

Anyway, here in Spain more and more young, very qualified people are leaving North. Most of those I know of are engineers. My own brother is planning a move to Germany in the future. Quite frankly, if my circumstances were not against it, I'd leave too. The difference in salaries and especially work conditions is ridiculous.

[Razgovory]

There are no legal barriers to doing so. I guess language is the only real barrier that differs compared to the situation in the US but beyond that it is possible.

That's a pretty big barrier, not to mention social barriers.  When you go from Greece to Germany, for all intents and purposes you are an immigrant.  When you move from Michigan to Texas, you're still pretty much at home.

Well, someone going from Kentucky to New york would be subject to great social barriers too I guess.

Not really.  People move across the country all the time for jobs.  It's extremely common.

[Josquius]

Its bizzare really, Greece that is, its been with western Europe for an age now, fully part of all our institutions. Yet its still just as crap as many ex-communist states and outsider, significantly bigger, with a dead horse chained to its leg, Turkey.

DGuller is right. Language is a very big barrier. People in small countries do speak very good English, but for the population of most big countries that is a huge obstacle.

Anyway, here in Spain more and more young, very qualified people are leaving North. Most of those I know of are engineers. My own brother is planning a move to Germany in the future. Quite frankly, if my circumstances were not against it, I'd leave too. The difference in salaries and especially work conditions is ridiculous.

People always really tend to underestimate the importance of language I think. Its such a simple thing they just don't expect it to be that big a problem.
Even in Sweden where 99% of people speak decent English or  better its nigh on impossible to get a job without knowing Swedish- yet idiots keep flooding in expecting to find work easily.
Incidentally Romanians seem to be rather clever, they realise the language issue and that's why they migrate to the other latin countries. Yey.

What a ridiculously alarmist headline. 

[Richard Hakluyt]

The different EU states also have different legal systems, this can be quite a significant barrier.

[Darth Wagtaros]

There are no legal barriers to doing so. I guess language is the only real barrier that differs compared to the situation in the US but beyond that it is possible.

That's a pretty big barrier, not to mention social barriers.  When you go from Greece to Germany, for all intents and purposes you are an immigrant.  When you move from Michigan to Texas, you're still pretty much at home.

Well, someone going from Kentucky to New york would be subject to great social barriers too I guess.

People move around a lot here.  Especially now with aeroplanes and Route 66 completed. 

[Razgovory]

I'm willing to bet that a very significant number of Americans are living in a state that is not the one they were born in.

A bit of googling says it's about a third.

[Razgovory]

I hope the Euro does collapse.  Why?  Because somebody here had an avatar of the Euro fucking the dollar.  I hope they all eat shit and die.  Yes, I'm that petty.

[DontSayBanana]

How's that? Don't US states have their own economies that often are in conflict with each other too?

No authority to coin their own money or provide services on the federal level, though, meaning if a state like, say, California, needed to be bailed out, that money would never come from another state; it'd come from the US Treasury.  Also, constitutional mandates to balance budgets mean that on paper, no state should ever be in a situation where it needs to be directly bailed out, and if they are, they'll just rewrite the rules so that they're not in need of the money.  So far, it's worked so much better than just printing additional money.

[Josquius]

I'm willing to bet that a very significant number of Americans are living in a state that is not the one they were born in.

A bit of googling says it's about a third.

States aren't quite the same as countries though, I'd imagine much of this moving is someone from some shit hole middle of the country state living in its equally irrelevant, unknown neighbour.
A good comparison I'd like to see is using some groupings of states- maybe those typical ones you get where it categorises them into groups such as New England, the South, Pacifica, the empty zone, etc...

[The Larch]

What a ridiculously alarmist headline. 

The more alarmist the headline, the more replies one gets. The internet is very simple that way.

The more alarmist and hysterical the headline is, the more scorn the original poster gets.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah, but Greece is small and irrelevant. The euro government in fiscal distress that actually matters is Spain.

Spain's fine.  Their national debt's very low and for a number of years prior to the crisis they've had surpluses.  They've got a big deficit because they're particularly hard-hit by the crisis in housing/construction but the fundamentals are strong.  They've also used the crisis to push through some reform of pensions which is Spain's budgetary issue.

[grumbler]

I'm willing to bet that a very significant number of Americans are living in a state that is not the one they were born in.

A bit of googling says it's about a third.

States aren't quite the same as countries though, I'd imagine much of this moving is someone from some shit hole middle of the country state living in its equally irrelevant, unknown neighbour.
A good comparison I'd like to see is using some groupings of states- maybe those typical ones you get where it categorises them into groups such as New England, the South, Pacifica, the empty zone, etc...

It's pretty amazing how ignorant Euros are of the geographic mobility of Americans!

All I can say, Tyr and Marti, is that you guys should really just stay silent on the topic until you know something about it. 

Americans generally don't move unless they need to move to find work.  If that is the case, moves generally are not "from some shit hole middle of the country state living in its equally irrelevant, unknown neighbour," because unlike (apparently) Britain, in the US economies are regional, and if there is a downturn in New Hampshire, it exists in Vermont as well.  So, moves are generally some distance.  And people who move to New York from Kentucky would not face significant social barriers, because a huge number of people already in New York are from places like Kentucky.  We don't have anything like the (apparent) Polack clannishness.

Don't take what I say as a sufficient introduction to consider yourselves experts on the topic, guys.  Learn a lot more before you post "information" on this topic (or topics about Americans generally, really).  Thanks.