Critique: In Sickness and in Wealth

The article I chose to critique talks about the euro and how it will remain the main form of currency in the European Union. The European Union consists of 27 countries and all but Great Britain use the Euro. I agree with the author and his point that the Euro will not and should not change. Many countries have recently converted to the Euro, such as Spain, who changed their currency from the Peseta to the Euro between 1999 and 2002. Also, the European Union will be expanding within the next few years, and will then include countries such as Croatia and Turkey. I have personally dealt with the exchange rate of the Euro to the US Dollar, for the past year I have been studying and Spain, and along with Greece, their economy has experienced a downfall due to the change of currency. For example; in 1998 a loaf of bread in Spain would cost about 35 pesetas, once it changed to the euro, companies were not properly converting their prices, and they would charge what they felt sounded right. Once the Euro was the primary currency a loaf of bread would cost at least €1, which is equivalent to 166.38 pesetas, which meant people were paying four times more than they were and this did not just happen with bread but many other necessary goods. The citizens of Spain are just now getting adjusted to the Euro as well as many other countries, it would not be wise to change the currency again, I feel that it would lead to another economic downfall, because once again prices would change, and would not correspond with what they should be. Just because one country is struggling with the Euro does not mean that the currency for all the other members of the European Union should have to change. The Euro is a very convenient currency, especially because so many countries use or accept it. If the European Union changed the currency, it would be a hassle; it is not uncommon for Europeans to travel just as Americans do for work and if they had a different currency in each country, that would be terrible, it would be like having a different currency for each state in the US. The value of the Euro has also risen, when I first moved to Spain last August, the exchange rate was $1.356 for every Euro and it has now risen to $1.44 for every Euro. It seems that the Euro is doing just fine for the majority of Europe; it would not be wise to change it now.