Why Won the UK Join the Euro?
When the euro was born, there were some reasonably good economic reasons why the UK shouldn’t be part of it from day one. Gordon Brown came up with his famous five tests, with the predictable (and desired) result that the UK to this day has retained the pound as its currency, even as the euro increases in scope and popularity. (There are now 15 full members of the eurozone, as well as nine more states and territories using the euro as their sole currency, and many others, like Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Baltics, obliged to join in the future.) Today, the UK would pass the five tests with flying colors. Yet even as the euro becomes increasingly useful and powerful, the chances of the UK ever joining seem to get ever slimmer. So Willem Buiter pops the question on his blog: When will the UK wake up and join the Euro Area? My feeling is that the time has passed. Tony Blair could have pushed it through at the beginning of his term in office, when he was flush with political capital
