[paganel]

> It can be devalued

I've lived in a country with high double-digit inflation through the 1990s (in one year it even surpassed 100%), I'd say be careful what you wish for. People seem to forget that paper money is just that, paper, and is based mostly on trust. Once trust evaporates (even if temporarily) shit's gonna definitely go wrong. But, hey, at least the decision is yours! You've got freedom!

[ptaipale]

Compare to: Greece.

[paganel]

Greece could have had it way, way worse. Ask the Argentinians, ask the Bulgarians who lived through the 1990s (I remember some of them passing the border to us (I'm from Romania) in order to sell whatever they had around the house just to have that extra cash that would pay the bills), ask us, Romanians, ask the Russians who lived through the inflation of the early '90s. You'd get only one answer: If you think things can't get worse than a certain point then you're wrong.

[kinkdr]

No matter how bad Greece is now, can you say with certainty that it would be better if it wasn't in the EU or Euro?

I personally doubt it. It is still much better than its neighbors.

[ptaipale]

I think EU membership is very good for Greece, euro membership not.

[lisivka]

Why? Why stable currency is bad for Greece?

[ptaipale]

Because they would desperately need to float its value down to regain competitiveness. Now they can only do it by lowering wages through massive unemployment, civil unrest and layoffs in public sector.

This is not limited to Greece, of course.