The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 21, May 27, 2007, Article 20

THE AMERO: A EURO-STYLE CURRENCY FOR NORTH AMERICA?

Andrew Pollock forwarded an interesting article about a proposal
for a common North American currency modeled after the Euro:

"On Monday, Bank of Canada Gov. David Dodge told the Chicago
Council on Global Affairs that North America could one day move
toward a euro-style currency.

"Dodge's comments add to a growing list of comments from Canadian
economists, academics and government officials supporting the
idea of creating the amero as a North American common currency.

"Dodge argued a common North American currency would help buffer
the adverse effects of exchange rate fluctuations between the
Canadian dollar and the U.S. dollar.

"In October 2006, El Universal, a Mexican newspaper published in
Spanish, reported in a little-noticed article the then-president-elect
of Mexico and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in their first
meeting together shared a vision of a future North America united
under a common currency.

[The article notes that the initial concept paper on the amero was
written by economist Herbert Grubel of Canada's Frasier Institute.
Other long-time supporters of the concept are the C. D. Howe Institute
in Canada, which has published several papers co-authored by Thomas J.
Courchene of Queen's University and Richard G. Harris of Simon
Fraser University calling on Canada to pursue a North American
currency union.  -Editor]

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

[The concept of a North American economic union has been around for
a while.  A web search on 'Amero' and related terms returns a number
of articles and web pages.  The upshot for numismatists, of course,
should anything of the sort come to pass in the future, is what North
American coins and banknotes would look like.  The Euro coins and
notes provide a model, with individual designs honoring the countries
making up the union, all under the common Euro currency system.  In
a sense, we have this today in the U.S. with the state quarters now
in circulation.  The states have input into the designs, but their
striking and issuance is handled by the U.S. Treasury department.
-Editor]

To read the complete article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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