by K. Russell

Created on: December 16, 2008   Last Updated: June 17, 2010

Regardless of the paper or plastic we use to purchase goods and services, price variations will continue to occur both seasonally and regionally. Of course a global currency could "work". The tokens of value we currently use worldwide have, in truth, no real value of their own. Currency merely represents the level of confidence buyers and sellers have in the relative worth in their personal exchange.

Clearly, national pride and patriotic feathers would be ruffled with the adoption of a global currency, but those bumps in the road to trade would be temporary. Currency has taken a multitude of forms throughout human history. Shells, beads, debit cards, gold coins have all been used for the same purpose: to represent an agreed upon value.

The adoption of a global currency will not change the fact that the wealthy will pay more for their food and shelter than the poor. Why? Because they can. A wealthy person generally wants to pay more simply to show that they can. The basic supply and demand rules of economics will still apply. A loaf of bread may be worth x units of currency to one person, while that same loaf may only be worth y units of currency to another person and those two consumers will shop accordingly. The basic distribution of goods and services would not drastically change with a global currency. In light of the Euro, the Germans still sell their prized cuckoo clocks and the Italians still sell their leather goods. The only differences are the increased comparative clarity of those exchanges and the loss of income to money changers.

There is no need for exchange rates or money changers with a global currency. The purchase of products and services would be closer to a free market economy in that buyers and sellers would be better able to compare the true prices being considered. Money lenders would be forced to better compete with each other, to the consumer's advantage, with the elimination of fluctuating exchange rates.

The regional and seasonal differences in price would better reflect true supply and demand and be less swayed by geopolitics. Governments would be less able to flood or withhold their currency if all nations used the same one. Consumers would be the greatest beneficiaries to a global economy. They would be better able to make financial decisions without the constant fluctuations imposed on financial markets by the political arena.

There is no denying that we live in a time of global economics. The adoption of a global currency would facilitate smoother transactions and a better informed consumer.

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