[dash2]

The general point that the Euro will be controlled by the ECB, which must balance the priorities of all member states, is true. It’s also true that this generates some well-known public goods problems. And it is widely accepted among economists that ECB policy has been better suited to Germany than to e.g. the PIIGS countries of the Mediterranean. Hence the anger about European austerity in Italy, Greece....

Seriously, nobody in Britain, Remainer or Brexiteer, is arguing for us to join the Euro. That argument is not currently live.

[JanSt]

No, you are wrong.

The ECB does not have to balance interests. It‘s independent and it‘s job is monetary stability, not economic interests.

It‘s also not widely accepted that it‘s in Germanys interest. In fact it is against it. Germans hold most of their wealth in cash. They received interest for it. That‘s hundereds of billions now gone. Germans are poorer than most other Europeans (even than Spaniards and Italians) At the same time the southern countries have so high debt loads that they would be bankrupt without QE.

The Euro is too weak for North Europe and to strong for the South.

[coldtea]

>The ECB does not have to balance interests. It‘s independent and it‘s job is monetary stability, not economic interests.

That's the version one would teach to high schoolers, not the real political/historical truth by any margin. In fact it's so naive I don't even know where to start addressing it.

You can follow the power plays in the ECB in all kinds of outlets, if leftist ones are not your thing, even Le Monde, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Corriere della sera, The Economist and co will do.

>It‘s also not widely accepted that it‘s in Germanys interest. In fact it is against it. Germans hold most of their wealth in cash. They received interest for it. That‘s hundereds of billions now gone.

When Germany has control over EU/ECB policies, it could not give less ducks about the German people. It's about German banks and elites doing good.

[pjc50]

> Germans are poorer than most other Europeans (even than Spaniards and Italians)

er, citation needed? Or is this due to the former DDR?

[JanSt]

That may be a part of it, but it's mostly due to homeownership. Germany is a super risk-averse country, thus few people invest their money. Most people hold everything in cash, thus they get very low returns. It's also the reason why they are hit so hard in a low-interest environment.

https://jakubmarian.com/wealth-per-capita-by-country-in-euro...

It's describing the median wealth based on a Credit Suisse Wealth Report

You can also find these results in the ING research ("Surprising differences between countries", page 14ff): https://www.ezonomics.com/pdf/Household-wealth-in-Europe.pdf

"When dividing the Eurozone into a group of countries often labeled as ‘core’11and a group of Southern-European12countries, it turns out that Southern-European households are more capable of keeping up their standard of living compared with those living in the core countries (see figure 18)"

"It is striking that German households have fewer assets than Eurozone households have on average. They not only own relatively little real estate(see figure 20)but also hold less financial assets than is common in the Eurozone(see figure 21)."

[kipqi]

>Germans are poorer than most other Europeans (even than Spaniards and Italians)

You get to read some things here that you don't know whether to laugh or cry.

[JanSt]

Welcome to HN! There are a lot of facts to find here.

Median wealth (USD) per adult:

#13 Spain 87,188

..

#15 Italy 79,239

..

#29 Germany 35,169

#30 Slovenia 34,043

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_pe...

[kipqi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_c...

[JanSt]

Disposable income is not wealth

[kipqi]

Wealth is useless. I bet Spaniards have more wealth because they own houses instead of renting. But that's some wealth they can't touch. What are they going to do, live under a bridge?

"poor" is simply a generic term, personally I think it's income what defines if you live a poor's life or a rich's life.