Word: euros
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Europe's single currency has come of age early. The euro turns 10 on Jan. 1, a milestone for one of the most powerful symbols of European identity. It has already endured a rite of passage over the past few months, as the global financial crisis battered European markets yet failed to fluster the euro. And, like any debutante, it has its suitors: a string of countries lining up to dump their national currencies and join the euro zone...
...euro zone is now 15 members large and has a combined population of about 320 million. However, many more people are directly affected by the currency, from would-be members whose money is already pegged to it, to countries like Montenegro and Kosovo, whose effective national currency is the euro. France's former African colonies also peg their common currency to Europe's. That means about 500 million people rely on the euro or euro-pegged currencies...
...European Commission president José Manuel Barroso credits the euro for delivering lower inflation, lower interest rates and greater price stability, and helping to create 16 million jobs. More immediately, the euro is shielding member states in this time of economic turmoil, preventing a currency crisis in addition to the credit crunch. "The euro is sheltering businesses from the exchange rate volatility, which has battered them in previous downturns," Barroso said on Monday. "To put it simply, the euro works...
...Before the euro, a financial crisis in Europe went hand in hand with currency woes: a run on weaker currencies, heavy intervention by central banks and finally a collapse of the parity system. "I've lived through currency devaluations, and they are fraught with anxieties," says Hans Martens, chief executive of the European Policy Centre. "But the way the euro coped with the financial crisis was absolutely great. You have a big island of stability, with small nations protected when the big waves became rough...
...just because the current Czech government is led by Euro skeptics doesn't mean they might not have good ideas. "The Czech government could rise to the challenge nonetheless," says Hugo Brady, from the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. "As a small country, it is used to making deals, so it knows about the art of compromise...