Sir, - The unravelling of the Maastricht monetary package hardly justifies the deep pessimism expressed in your January 27th editorial.
Maastricht was essentially a political deal, not an economic one, struck between France and Germany and acquiesced to by the smaller European economies. The Maastricht criteria for economic convergence have always appeared to be inadequate indicators of the state of any economy. We are now beginning to witness what economists will surely term the "Maastricht paradox", that is, Ireland with its hopeless unemployment record, high emigration rate and with an economy fuelled by internal EU transfers is being spoken of as being in ideal shape: a primary contender for monetary union, ahead of the big economies which it is striving to imitate! In such circumstances the 1999 monetary union "plan" is best forgotten.
We have other good reasons for wanting to see the back of the current Maastricht singlemindness. Ireland's hope for increased sustainable employment lies primarily in the small business and farming sector. Natural expansion for such small businesses invariably depends on the English speaking adjacent British market. Exchange rate policy can therefore become a crucial factor in increasing employment. Currently, Maastricht madness is ensuring that we track the D mark, at the expense of jobs. Monetary union in three years time can only exacerbate this trend.
Monetary union will also lead to new economic borders on this island at a time when we are supposedly striving towards greater economic co operation. The further the 1999 Maastricht plan is from the peace table, the better.
Big business may want Maastricht. The Euro may be popularised as a means towards cheaper foreign holidays. For myself I would be happier to see monetary policy directed towards helping the only sector which has a real possibility of ending our unemployment and emigration problems. The Irish Times should display more optimism in its monetary analysis: bye bye Maastricht, hello jobs. - Yours, etc.,
Amiens Street,
Dublin 1.