So, a strong Euro may mean MORE colloquial products going into Europe, and FEWER metric products coming into the US.
Does this mean that a strong Euro will slow down metrication? Not necessarily -- the whole point of my post was that the issue is vastly more complex than that, and no one can conceivable *know* the effect of exchange rates on US metrication.
Jim
At 1/5/2003, 08:54 PM, kilopascal wrote:
It seems that North Korea in an attempt get revenge against the US has converted all of its US dollar deposits to euros. If more countries at odds with the US do the same, it will destabilise the dollar on the world market and further hurt the US economy at home.John bases his assertions on a mighty simplistic view of the economic world. A few points:
Again, it is a strong euro, and a stabile EU that will have the power force metrication on the US.
(1) EU cannot force metrication on the US, it can only refuse to accept non-metric products. That it has failed to do so is due to lack of political will and/or popular demand, and is not necessarily related to whether the Euro is strong or weak vis-a-vis the dollar.
(2) To the degree that the Euro is strong, it encourages European exports and discourages American exports. This may weaken the financial strength of American exporting companies. However, it is hardly obvious that American exporters will see the Euro and metrication to be directly related.
(3) Where American companies are losing European market share due to a weak dollar, some of them MAY see the metrication connection, and some of them MAY choose to metricate in response. No one can know if that will be a significant effect.
(4) Some American companies with larger portions of their sales in Euro-using countries may be financially weakened by the strong Euro. This may RETARD metrication, due to the simple fact that it takes money to metricate, and companies may put off metrication if they do not see that it is related to their decrease in sales (and, as I noted above, that is hardly a clear connection).
(5) Further RETARDING metrication will be the fact that some American companies will conclude that it is not worth the effort to try and export to Europe. Both the Euro and metrication will appear to be barriers to that effort. Some will not try to export, others will export to markets where the dollar is stronger.
(5) John's "analysis" also totally ignores the effects of various trade and tariff agreements, various countries' providing different subsidies to different industries, trade barriers, embedded constituencies, historical practices, backwards compatibilities, and a plethora of other facets of the economic, trade and metrication picture.
The fact is that the USA will remain the most economically powerful nation in the world as long as we remain the one with the most economic freedom. It is economic freedom, exercised by individual human beings, and not the unit of currency or unit of measurement, that builds prosperity and economic strength.
For a view of the Euro a bit more realistic than the "European good, American bad" view of John, read the editorial published today at:
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jan/01062003/commenta/commenta.asp
Jim Elwell, CAMS
Electrical Engineer
Industrial manufacturing manager
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
www.qsicorp.com
