The European Union

There's no denying that I'm an idealist. I believe that the world can be so much better than it is. And despite all sorts of evidence to the contrary, I believe that people have it in them to do what's best, not just for themselves but for the world as well.

In a lot of ways the EU represents some of the first steps towards that ideal. Different countries working together, coming together to act as a single unit. 27 countries joined together to integrate the continent. How could that not be a good thing?  And certainly a number of the countries involved have benefited greatly. It's made travel and trade within Europe easier for everyone. But not everyone's a winner.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/06/19/europe.debt.explainer/index.html

This image shows government debt as a percentage of annual GDP as of 2010. Some of the countries have debt that is more than 100% of their annual GDP, while for others it's less than 40%. For the 16 countries that are part of the eurozone, the lack of an national currency has caused some serious problems. These are still individual nations, with individual economic difficulties, and some of the so-called benefits have actually increased these difficulties for some countries. Greece, for instance, with its massive amount of debt and high inflation, just can't keep up with the some of the rest of the European Union.

Some of these countries have required substantial bailouts from the EU in order to keep from going under. But if policy was adjusted to lower their inflation, it would harm those countries that have been successful with the euro.

The European Union is a giant leap forward towards a completely integrated international economy. Europe has bravely gone ahead of the rest of the world in uniting governments and economies. But what would happen if the European Union continued to spread? Already we've seen that a common currency can't protect countries from problems with debt and inflation. In addition, Great Britain's refusal to adopt the euro is just one example of how countries may fear that joining the EU or the eurozone will cost them their national sovereignty. Can anyone picture the United States giving up the dollar for the euro? No, the U.S. would surely insist that the American dollar be the international standard.

In fact, let's look at the United States. The U.S. is a single country, with a single overall government and the FDIC overseeing the economic issues for all of the states, yet each state retains its own government. But is the U.S. really an example of a successful economic system? Some states are on the verge of bankruptcy, and the country as a whole is facing massive debt.

The idealist in me wants to believe that if it were only possible for the entire world to band together under a single currency with an outside economic monitor half the world's problems would be solved. Peace would about, debts would be repaid, the international recession would end. Sadly, I'm also a realist. I don't believe that such a thing is possible, certainly not anytime soon. And ultimately, who's to say that the problems the EU is currently facing wouldn't explode one thousand-fold if the results were replicated world-wide.

Still, though the European Union has been around for over 50 years, in economic terms it's still a baby. They're still working the kinks out of the system. These next few years are crucial ones to watch, to see how the EU deals with the economic crises in Greece, Italy, Spain and elsewhere. Maybe they'll come up with a brilliant solution, and the European Union will become the strongest economic force in the world. Or maybe they'll flounder, and have to take some sort of drastic measures just to stay standing. But either way, the world will be watching, and hopefully learning.

I don't believe that we can have a successful international economy until the world is truly integrated in more ways than just financially, and we're still a ways away from even that. The European Union is an example we can look to. They are pioneers in globalization, and its important that the rest of the world realizes that. The world is changing faster every year, and I believe that without some sort of international unity everything will fall apart. We'll see another Great Depression or another World War. And because the world is more interdependent than it ever has been before, the effects will be so much more devastating. Please, let us learn from the mistakes of our past, and the mistakes of our present, so that we may have a future.