14 October 2015 16:15 – 18:00
John Phelan, Capital Economics
“The Road Not Taken – The Hard ECU; Britain’s Alternative to the Euro”
In 2009 the euro entered a crisis from which it has yet to emerge. It has led to increased social tensions across the Eurozone and even speculation that the euro might break up.
Against this background Mr Phelan re-examines the Hard ECU, the British government’s 1990 alternative to the Delors plan for monetary union which was adopted at Maastricht in 1992 and led to the euro. A common currency as opposed to a single currency, the Hard ECU sought to harness the discovery process of the market to build monetary union in Europe. In the light of the current crisis, it is ripe for re-examination.
