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Article: Global View: German angst and Irish tiger.
- Article from:
- United Press International
- Article date:
- December 21, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 United Press International. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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QUERETARO, Mexico, Dec 20, 2002 (United Press International via COMTEX)
"One Ring to rule them all," it says at the beginning of the epic novel, The Lord of The Rings. Here again is one ring: the ring of 12 economies that share the new European currency, the euro, and have just one interest rate to bind them. And in the 12 we find disparate characters: angst-ridden Germany with its low growth and inflation and Celtic tiger Ireland, with its high growth and inflation. Is this a ring that can prosper or is it heading for destruction?
Consider the problem of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. For almost three years it has been setting an interest rate ...