By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 commentator.
Dallas, TX – Today all U.S. markets are closed in honor of President's Day. So let's take a look at the Euro. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.
A quick refresher - on January 1st, 1999, the new Euro Currency was introduced. Twelve of the fifteen members of the European Union united to have one common currency. The UK, Denmark, and Switzerland did not participate. And on January 1st of this year, the official banknotes and currency began total circulation.
Actually the conversion itself has gone quite smoothly. In fact, by the middle of January, national currencies practically disappeared from circulation - that from the official Euro website. A month ago, more than nine out of ten cash payments were made in Euros and three quarter of the vending machines had been converted. But as the Euro presses on, reality is setting in and the news is mixed at best.
As reported in today's Financial Times, European banks lost a "year's profit resulting from the conversion of the single currency." This announcement came from the chairman of the European Savings Bank Group. Feelings are that with actual figures coming in at such high cost to the banks, the debate over reimbursement by the European Union might be back on the table. Can they afford it?
And today's Wall Street Journal called Germany "Europe's Bad Boy." See, last week the E.U. Commission chose not to censure Germany over their widening deficit in direct result of Germany's campaigning. Critics of this non-censure believe it will harm the credibility of the single currency, ignoring the Euro rulebook. Others believe it was a realistic reaction to economic cycles. Time will surely tell if this was the proper action or not.
And today, France officially says goodbye to the 641-year-old French Franc. All in all, you gotta hand it to 'em. Remember when the U.S. attempted to change to the metric system? Au revoir, French Franc, au revoir! For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 PM.