by John Zienkosky

Created on: March 28, 2009

The practical side of me says that a one world currency is a good Idea. It also tells me that it is an inevitability. It also tells me that whatever form of currency we use has little impact on the fact that we are consumerists first and currency experts second. I think that even bartering would be okay with most of us as long as we could get what we wanted.

However, the nationalist side of me wins this argument. The sacrificing of our currency would be a huge step toward relinquishing our national sovereignty. We are the leading economic power on the planet. The move to a world currency for us would be similar to turning over our military to a world body; once we have given up absolute control it is no longer strictly up to us what happens to it or our economy on which it's based. While the currency is ours so is our ability to give it to whomever we want or take it away as well. A world wide currency by its very nature would have to be subject to all the world's economies and not just ours.

Of course, some will argue that we already have a world economy and this would only streamline the whole machine. I beg to differ. The melding of the world economies through a global currency would then require the wealthy nations to be tossed about by the poor, the poor to be dictated to by the rich and both to be struggling against the other on myriads of issues unrelated to economy but inevitably affecting it. As time went by it would be necessary to impose more and more regulation to stabilize the currency and these regulations would need teeth. To make these regulations have consequences implies a governing body, a central bank, and more control would be given to it and less control to the national economies.

The loss of our national identity has been long coming in bits and pieces beginning with involvement in the UN Police action in Korea and progressing through today's coalition efforts. While we have been knighted the police force of the world community we have also by necessity become ever more subject to the mood and whims of the world body. This is not in our best interest in the long run.

How close we are to a world currency is frightening. The central Bank of China has suggested that we adopt a world currency recently and Tim Geithner's response was one of extreme acceptance of the idea. This is the Secretary of the Treasury and former head of the Reserve Bank of New York being amenable to talking with China about adopting a World Currency. This is what tells me it is inevitable, but I still think it is a bad idea.

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