There’s still lots of debate about the euro and Eurozone, with Greece imploding and now Italy et al all going up the Furka Pass, so to speak.
Now I’ve been purposefully avoiding getting into the fray, as it’s not my place, although I’m quite outspoken in media outlets about such matters (checkout this Bloomberg video about European Banking Authority’s stress tests of banks in July 2011, if interested).
Anyways, we now have David Cameron and Angela Merkel at loggerheads about such matters. Luckily they came to some agreement, although the bank transaction tax is still causing huge disagreements.
Meanwhile, some believe that Britain will regret not being part of the euro. This is down to the new controlling stranglehold in Europe of the inner sanctum – those in the euro – and the rest – those not.
This may create a rift in European Union, but is necessary if the Germans are going to keep paying for holding the Eurozone together.
This is why some folks, even those within the Conservative Party, believe the UK must one day join the euro too.
Nevertheless, talks of joining the euro are more divisive in Britain than ever, and is still unlikely in my lifetime.
One of the reasons why we would never want to join the euro of course, is because we like the Queen and the Pound.
For example, in a survey by Demos published over the weekend – which showed that Muslim Brits are more patriotic than all other Brits! – they itemised what we consider to be ‘national treasures’.
Shakespeare came out tops, closely followed by the National Trust (our ‘green and pleasant land’) and the armed forces (keep our country ours).
Interestingly, the pound came fifth, above the monarchy who came seventh.
BEST OF BRITISH TOP 10
How people rate our cultural icons:
Shakespeare 75%
The National Trust 72%
The armed forces 72%
The Union Jack 71%
The pound 70%
The NHS 69%
The monarchy 68%
The BBC 63%
British sporting achievements 58%
The Beatles 55%
Hmmm … this intrigued me and got me thinking.
Then I spotted a remarkable item about a chap in Poland who’s been designing their bank notes all of his lifetime.
He’s a national treasure there, and an artist designing everything from military medals to passport covers, coats of arms to postage stamps; and his name is Andrzej Heidrich.
Now in his 80s, Andrzej Heidrich’s artwork is being celebrated by Poland’s National Bank...
... including many banknote designs ...
Some of which were never actually issued. For example, this 100 zloty note was never issued:
A better version was demanded by the Central Bank and, a bit like album covers in days of old, we treasure the designs and have rigorous standards.
This is why such designs become treasured and is why it is no wonder that countries who have no euro, and view their banknotes and artwork around those notes as ‘national treasures’, have such resistance to being in the euro.
Maybe the bet should be more on the Germans joining the Deutschmark than Britain, or Poland for that matter, joining the euro?
Ooops, scrub that:
In spite of the continuing crisis in the eurozone, the Polish ambassador says his country still aspires to adopting the currency as its own.
Guess, I should start using Bitcoin instead.
You can have as many national treasures as you're prepared to pay for.
Down here in Oz we also have the Queen, and we don't pay her Civil List. Is joining the Euro having a national treasure and not paying for it?
Point being, national treasures is marketing copy for News of the World readers.
Posted by: Iang | November 22, 2011 at 10:39 AM
Civil List. Is joining the Euro having a national treasure and not paying for it?
Posted by: Tucson Massage Therapy | August 01, 2012 at 10:35 AM
patriotic than all other Brits! – they itemised what we consider to be ‘national treasures’.
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